


Good Little Girl

by Kenzi36



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Fear, Gang Violence, Gangs, Past Abuse, Protective FP Jones II, Protective Sweet Pea (Riverdale), Sexual Tension, Slightly slow burn, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24131044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenzi36/pseuds/Kenzi36
Summary: "Stop! Marcus! Please STOP!" she screams from the side of where the brawl was about to begin. Nobody dared to breathe and she edged closer to the man who was looking at her with a mixture of anger and infatuation. She walked up and pressed her hands on his chest."I'll do it... I'll be your good little girl again and everything can go back to how you want it," she breathed, looking down. He gave her a sadistic smile. He grabs her hips and spins her around to see the group she had grown to call family. Jughead, Fangs, Toni, Betty, Archie, Veronica, Cheryl, and all the rest of the serpents."Say his name and maybe I'll consider it," he growled and she stiffened know what he wanted. Marcus rolled his eyes and placed a knife to her throat. She closed her eyes in defeat as the one person she didn't want to react, did. Marcus smiled as he demanded, "Say the name of the man who has stolen you from me!"She closed her eyes and a tear fell down her cheek as she took a shaky breath in and looked the boy in the eyes, tears now flowing freely, "Sweet Pea."With that, all hell broke loose.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Sweet Pea (Riverdale)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

“You shouldn’t have stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong little girl,” he snarled at her. He looked down where she was being held down. To him, this is where she belonged… gagged and begging for his mercy. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, trying to talk through the cloth tied around her mouth. With a flick of his wrist, red flowed from another slit on her thigh and another muffled scream flew from that pretty mouth of hers. He wiped the knife off on his pants leg and laughed.

“You know,” he started, “you have always been… special. You were my lioness…” He leans down to see the fear in her eyes. He grabbed her throat roughly causing her to take in a sharp breath, “now, you are nothing. Not to me and _not_ to anyone here. So, this our goodbye my lioness… _serius mea._ ” 

_ Until later, my love… _ this was it. She had tried everything to stop what was coming and it wasn’t enough. Marcus had won and now he was going to get rid of her like he does everyone else who stands in the way of his plans. She watched as he took his knife over to the fire and her eyes widened. The man holding her right arm pulled her shirt up, revealing her torso and the lion tattoo on her hip. She tried to fight and get away from all of this. 

Yet, there was nothing that could get her away from the searing pain of the knife cutting through her skin. 

***

It was a scream in the woods that caught Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Archie’s attention. Their immediate reaction was to run towards it. They found a girl about the age of twelve frozen in fear on the edge of Fox Forest. Betty put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, causing her to jump. The girl looked at Betty with wide eyes and then looked down onto the floor of the forest. The group followed her line of sight and their breath caught in their throat. 

A girl about their age laid on the ground in a broken, fetal position. Archie rushed to the girl’s side and touched her arm. Betty was clutching the little girl to her chest as she cried. Veronica walked over to the girl and began to hug her too and whispering comforts into her ear. Archie looked over, alarmed, “Guys! She’s cold and I don’t know if she is breathing!” 

“Jug, I think you need to call you dad,” Betty said trying to keep her voice steady to not alarm the crying girl in her arms. Jughead, still in shock, nodded and pulled out his phone to call FP quickly. It wasn’t long until Sheriff FP Jones found them along with an ambulance right behind him. FP ran up beside Archie and took a look at the mystery girl who was lying unconscious on the ground. 

He looked at the sight grimly but stayed calm, “Alright, paramedics should be coming down the hill any moment. We’ll take her to the hospital, hopefully, save her and then start getting some answers. Right now, I need you all to go back home and take the little girl with you. I’ll come and get statements tomorrow.”

  
  


The paramedics came rushing down in alarm at what they saw and immediately got down to business. It was hard to really understand what was going on as FP started to push them away. It all happened in slow motion. The girl was lowered onto a gurney and placed into the ambulance. Jughead hugged Betty close as Archie did the same to Veronica. FP was talking to the little girl and told them that he was gonna take her home and then go to the hospital. When everyone was gone and they were back at the boxing gym did anyone dare speak.

“Archie,” Veronica started, looking at all of them, “What do you think happened to her?”

He rubbed her shoulders, “I don’t know Ronnie, but I’m sure that we’ll know soon enough.”

***

Sheriff FP did not leave the hospital. Jughead and Betty had been around to make sure he had food and was comfortable. They offered to take shifts in staying there so that he could go home but there was no swaying him in any way. He began to drift off when he heard screams coming from her room. Doctors and nurses rushed into her room but her screams did not falter. He looked through the window on her door and he watched her thrash against her restraints, attempting to rip everything out of her arms. They were finally able to sedate the girl and she fell back into a dreamless sleep. The doctor came out and looked at FP.

“With the recurring nightmares that cause her to, well, do that, we’re concerned about putting her on suicide watch but we won’t do that unless she shows some signs of that within the next few hours. If not, she could go back to her family by tomorrow morning... She may be waking up soon though, we only gave her enough sedative to calm her so you can go and wait in her room if you would like,” the doctor nodded and walked away as FP thanked her. He walked in as she groaned and thrashed her head as her eyes flew open. She looked around, bewildered at the sights around her until her eyes settled on the sheriff.

“Where am I?” she asked bluntly. 

“You’re in Riverdale General Hospital,” he replied and she looked confused.

“How did I end up in… Riverdale?” 

He pushed himself off of the wall and sat down in a chair next to her, “That, I was hoping you could tell me.”

She looked down, obviously not knowing the answer. He smiled sympathetically, “Do you have a name?”

“Jezzy,” she said, not looking him in the eyes, “and before you ask, it’s just Jezzy.” He nodded and wrote her name down in his notebook. When he looked up at her, “Well, we found you on the edge of Fox Forest. You were cold and barely breathing. According to your doctor, you went into septic shock from that… wound on your torso. They said it was infected. Do you know what happened to you?

She was looking down and fiddled with her fingers and nodded. She looked up and her blue eyes were vacant. She looked like she didn’t want to talk and began to scratch the inside of her wrist. He put his hand on her wrist and looked at her with sincerity, “I want to protect you and stop who did this… Jezzy. I can’t do that if you do not tell me what happened.”

She swallowed, “I’ll tell you but… you can’t stop him. Nobody can.”

She faltered for a moment, “I’m from and was in Centerville and I was… affiliated with a gang there called the Lions. They  _ were  _ my family and that is where I met Marcus. He’s their king and, there was a time, I was their queen, the Lioness. However, all of that changed when I found what his true intentions of the gang were.”

She pauses to take a breath, “I can trust you, right?”

“Of course,” FP assures, “Trust me when I say I understand your situation entirely. Have you ever heard of the Southside Serpents?”

She looked at him and nodded. He nods back, “well, I grew up in that gang. Was even the Serpent King myself before I gave that up to my son and became sheriff.”

“Well, then you can understand the under the table things that may go down when in a gang,” he nodded at her words, “Marcus was doing just that. He had partnered with some other gang, I don’t know who, but they had started concocting something bad. They were creating some sort of new drug. A mixture of jingle-jangle and fizzle rocks with… something else. It’s dangerous, whatever it is… When I found out, I confronted him about it and told him if he didn’t I was going to the cops. Obviously, he didn’t like that and… he punished me and banished me from the Lions.”

She looked into the distance, “His goodbye to me was pinning me down, torturing me, and cutting my brand right out of my skin,” she scoffed.

“And I thought getting the damn thing hurt, removing it was worse. Anyways, that’s the last thing I remember before I woke up in this bed,” she said looking at him in finality. He nodded at her words and rubber her arm in a comforting way.

“Do you have any family?” he asks and she laughed. 

“If I had any family, I wouldn’t have joined the Lions in the first place,” she said with an uncomfortable smile. 

He nods again, “So you have nowhere to go?”

She gives him another smile and shakes her head. He looks at her again, “well, as long as something doesn’t happen tonight, you’ll be free in the morning. And, if you don’t have anywhere you can stay, I may have a place for ya.”

She smiled at him, “I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jezzy was released the following morning with orders to stay on her medications and to come back for a check-up in about three months. She was incredibly uncomfortable with all of the attention that the nurses and doctors were giving her. Some of the older nurses were fretting over her more than the younger ones. They had made sure that she had gotten a proper shower and even braided her blond hair into a French braid. One lady, Nurse Amber, had found her some clothes that her daughter owned when she was her age. So now, she was wearing some jean shorts, a black tank top, and purple/blue flannel. 

FP was waiting for her in his cruiser when she was finally able to get away from everyone. She rushes over to the cruiser as FP smiles at her and grabs the bag of clothes the nurse gave her from her. She sits down in the passenger seat as he gets back into the driver seat. He looked over and smiled at her, “Ready?”

She shrugs, “As I’ll ever be.”

Veronica had offered to house the girl for as long as she needed so she and Betty could keep an eye on her at all times. His original plan was to take her to the Pembrook but as he thought about it, it may cause her to become uneasy. She was used to gang life and taking her straight to the epitome of the Northside could make her feel just as uncomfortable as she was in the hospital. So, he convinced everybody to meet in the Serpent’s Den before going to Veronica’s so she could meet everyone first. 

It was about a fifteen-minute car ride before they arrived. She stepped out of the car and looked confused, “This looks more like a hangout than anything else.”

FP laughed, “That’s because it is. Figured you would wanna meet some people before we bunk you up some random place. Plus, according to Social Services, we had to enroll you in school starting Monday so we figured this may wanna know some familiar faces”. She nodded, she never thought of the fact that she was needing to be in school still. She always kept good grades at Centerville High and that pretty much kept everyone, including Social Services, out of her business. 

Then, her eyebrows furled down as she had another thought, “Why are Social Services just letting me stay here and not putting me in foster care? I don’t have a guardian.”

FP rubbed the back of his neck, “I, uh, kinda volunteered to be your guardian if you’re ok with that. I know that you don’t know me very well but I thought you may be happier here than in the foster care  _ oof _ ”. He wasn’t able to continue on as she hugged him tightly. He was shocked at first but then hugged her back gingerly, being mindful of her injuries. 

She withdrew back, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable. She looked at the ground and rubbed her arm before looking up at him from under her eyelashes, “Thank you sir, and you’re right. I haven’t known you long… but I trust you and would rather have you as a guardian than be in the system.”

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Call me FP. Now, let’s go introduce you to some people”. She steeled herself and nodded before they walked through the door. When they entered, all of the chatter in the room halted and all eyes were on her. Jezzy and FP stopped in the doorway.

Jezzy made eye contact with everyone in the room and began to chew on her bottom lip. She took a small stutter step behind FP. She partially was starting to remind him of Jellybean. He had already begun to have a paternal instinct towards her and he was proud that she was already trusting him. He placed a hand on her should again and ushered her into the room with the other teens. 

“Alright everybody, this is Jezzy. She’s gonna be here awhile so make her feel welcome,” he remarked before giving her a reassuring squeeze and leaving. He had already given Jughead a heads-up about the whole plan so he was sure that they all knew what was going on. 

Veronica was the first to come over to her and pulled her into a hug which she stiffly returned. The Lodge girl smiled at her brightly, “Hi! I’m Veronica Lodge and I’m so glad that you’re ok!” 

Veronica adjusts them so that they are staring at the rest of the group as she introduces everyone else. Pointing to them, one by one, “That is my best friend, Betty and her boo, Jughead. My beau, Archie. The bombshell over there is Cheryl and the girl next to her is Toni.”

“To whom, is my love,” Cheryl piped up before pecking Toni on the cheek.

Veronica rolled her eyes but continued, “Anyways, that hunk over there, is Kevin and beside him is Fangs. Then, tall, dark, and brooding over there is Sweet Pea”. Jezzy looked at each of them carefully, analyzing all of their features. She took extra time watching Sweet Pea though. Feeling like she was taking too much time without saying anything, she blushed and looked down. 

When she finally steeled her nerves again, she gave a small smile and waved, “I’m Jezzy and, uh, I’m from Centerville”. Veronica pushes her to sit on the couch around in a circle with the others. Jezzy stayed relatively quiet during the whole Twenty Questions but still replied when necessary. Eventually, more people flooded in and the group broke off, making the environment more relaxed in her opinion. Funny how that worked, the busier the place got, the more at home and cozy it felt. She felt better when all the attention was off of her, it allowed her to be able to sit by the window and observe. 

She should be more confident and more… badass than she was feeling at the moment. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have even batted an eye to having all the eyes on her. She was used to it, always-on display for Marcus and for the rest of the Lions. Now, she wanted to be a wallflower. Not cringing away from the attention but also not trying to seak it. Not always wanting to be displayed. After everything that had just occurred, she would rather watch everything else happen. 

The couch dipped beside her, breaking her concentration from Jughead, Fangs, Archie, and Kevin all playing darts in the corner with some other guys she wasn’t introduced to. She looked over and found the brooding boy, Sweet Pea. For a few moments, they just sat there, observing each other. He was tall and broad with dark hair to match is dark, brown eyes. Marcus was large but not as big as Sweet Pea was… but then again, Marcus had other things that made him terrifying. 

He was doing the same thing to her. She had soft curves to her and the tank top she wore outlined her breasts incredibly. She was short, probably around the same height as Toni with midlength blonde hair, pulled back into a braid. Her body language was closed off and she was tucked into herself. That was until she unconsciously reached out and lightly traced the serpent tattoo on his neck. 

She retracted her hand after realizing what she was doing. She looked down and blushed, “Sorry, what does it signify?”

He puffed his chest in pride, “It’s a serpent tattoo, shows that I am forever a Southside Serpent. A lot of us will get the tattoo on top of wear jackets. We’re family”. He gestures to the rest of the hang-out where Serpent jackets were littered everywhere. 

She hummed, “So where exactly are we?”

“The Serpents Den,” he replied, bluntly, “Normally, there aren’t so many Northsiders”. So this was the Southside Serpents. They seemed so much like the Lions and, yet, so different. They weren’t as violent towards each other and no drugs whatsoever. These were definite improvements but, still, they weren’t her Lions. She must have been quiet for a very long time because he spoke up again. He cleared his throat to get her attention, “So Centerville… Why move?”

She gave a grim smile and bitterly said, “I didn’t have a choice. This was  _ dropped _ onto me.”

He nodded, deciding not to push her any further at the moment and they sat in silence. She eventually let out a sigh and turned to look at him cross-legged, “So, why Sweet Pea?”

He laughed and looked a little embarrassed, “My grandma always called me it when I was younger. Eventually, as I grew up, I tried to hide it but Fangs heard my grandma say it one day and it just stuck. Now, your turn, Jezzy?”

She shrugged, “It’s also a nickname. My full name is Jezebella but… nobody calls me that and I’d like to keep it that way”. He looked her up and down, trying to understand why she seemed so guarded but was interrupted by a crash over in the corner. A group of Serpents began to laugh and shove each other. It seemed to be them all just messing with some guy with a crush and something must have fallen. Must be nice to be able to forget reality and think about the little things like crushes. 

Veronica and Betty pushed their way over to where Sweet Pea and Jezzy were sitting. Betty gave a big smile before sitting on the arm of the couch by Jezzy, “Hey, you wanna head home?”

She looked lost as Veronica piped up, “I thought you could stay with my mom, Betty, and I. It’s really nice and we have plenty of room.” 

Jezzy felt a little apprehensive about it but eventually nodded. The girls squealed in glee and dragged her out of the Serpent’s Den. She grabbed her duffle bag of clothes as they went to say goodbye to their respective boyfriends. When they came back, she gave a short wave to everyone before following them out to Betty’s car. 

It was a short drive to The Pembrook and when they got there, Jezzy was gobsmacked. It was huge and Veronica’s apartment was incredible. She turned to the other two girls with wide eyes, “Veronica, this is an amazing place.” 

Veronica smiled, “Well mi casa es tu casa! Make yourself at home!”

She kept looking around at the high ceilings and all the pristine-looking furniture. Veronica walked in and placed her things on the dining room table, “So, we have two guest rooms, so yours gonna be in the one and Betty’s is the one next door. So, I know it’s late and we have school tomorrow but if you need anything, let me know!”

She nodded, “Thank you… for everything. This really is too much. I think I’m just gonna shower and head to bed though if that’s cool.”

Veronica smiled and nodded so Jezzy wandered off into her room. Veronica smiled at Betty, “I like her. She’s a little quiet right now though.”

“She’s been through a lot Vee. She’ll probably warm up to us in the next few days,” Betty said with a sympathetic smile. After they chatted a little more about school work, they, too, headed to bed.

***

Jezzy woke up for the fourth time, but now, it was daylight. She groaned and was already dreading the day. Her nightmares had plagued her all night long as a combination of being laughed at for being the new girl and what Marcus had done to her. She looked up at the high ceiling above her. She wasn’t used to this, all of this glamour that came from this girl’s lifestyle. She was used to simpler things like a small house with few belongings. Her old house was cozy and was absolutely hers… until he torched her house as part of her punishment. She shook her head trying to forget the memory. 

She got out of bed to get dressed and ready for the day. She brushed through her hair, combing it out of the braid which left her hair in gentle waves to the middle of her back. She then brushed her teeth and put on some mascara that her, Veronica, and Betty had stopped by to get from the drug store last night. She turned to the clothes she had available and opted to try and make a good impression. She put on a black skirt that had a tucked in a purple turtleneck sweater. As she pulled the sweater over her head, she couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of the wound that ran from her hip to the outside of her abs. It was absolutely ugly and jagged. She remembers to rebandage it before completely slipping the shirt over it. 

She took a breath and then left the bedroom to find the other two girls and an older lady. She held her breath as everyone looked at her. The older lady smiled and stood up to shake her hand, “Hi, I’m Mayor Lodge but you can call me Hermione.”

She nodded and shook her hand, “I’m Jezzy, and thank you so much for allowing me to stay here. I really appreciate it and if you need me to start paying rent or do chores around the house, I can do that.”

Hermoine smiles, “Thank you Jezzy, but that’s not necessary and we are more than happy to help you.”

Veronica stood up, “Hey mom, we need to head to school so we’ll see you later. Oh! Jezzy, I have an old backpack if you wanna use it.”

Jezzy smiled and nodded, “Thank Veronica, that would be great.”

Betty handed her the backpack with a gentle smile. Then, they were off to Riverdale High. When they got there, Jezzy was apprehensive looking at the size of the high school. It was never easy being the new kid and she wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. Betty looped her arm through hers and smiled as Veronica did the same. They led her into the school and, surprisingly, nobody seemed to notice her. They walked into the student lounge and found everyone hanging out there until the first period. They had stopped by the office to grab her schedule before, so Jezzy sat down and started to look over it.

1st Period- Biology

2nd Period- Trigonometry

3rd Period- Gym 

4th Period- Free Period/Lunch

5th Period- Economics

6th Period- American History

7th Period- English

She had second and fifth periods with Betty, first period with Veronica, and third and fourth periods with both of them.  _ Well, at least I won’t be alone.  _ The couch dipped down beside her and she turned to find Sweet Pea. She gave a small smile and he gestured towards her schedule. She handed it over to him without a word and watched him as he looked over her schedule.

He looked up, “We have fourth and seventh periods together.”

She nodded and gave another small smile, “Cool. Always nice to have a familiar face in these classes, especially when you’re the new kid.”

He laughed and stretched his arms over the back of the couch. The others must have heard the end of their conversation because Archie pipes up, “Don’t worry! If anyone messes with you, we got your back.”

She nodded and looked around, “Thanks, I really appreciate it guys.”

The conversation shifted towards Kevin and this year’s musical. Betty leaned towards him, “So, Kev, what were you thinking for the musical?”

He grinned, “Well, I was thinking that we should probably do something that still relates to high school but maybe not as controversial as the last few musicals. However, I still wanted to do something a little more extravagant so I thought we would do  _ The Greatest Showman _ !” 

Everyone began to chatter with excitement. Kevin tried to settle them down, “So, obviously, we’re gonna have auditions during our free period but I was figuring I could rely on my usuals.”

He gave a pleading smile and everyone chorused their agreement. Kevin looked at her with those pleading eyes, “What do you think Jezzy, would you wanna try out?”

She was a little shocked but how could she say no when he was giving her that look, “Uh, sure, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to audition.”

Everyone cheered and continued to chatter until the bell. This school was definitely different. 


	3. Chapter 3

Fourth period came sooner rather than later. Everyone was meeting in the auditorium and she was shocked to see a few faces there. Including a kid she had met in her first period, Reggie, as well as Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Fangs. She sat down next to Sweet Pea and gave him a small smirk. He quirked his eyebrow, “What?”

She gave a small laugh, “Just didn’t take you for a musical guy.”

He shrugged, “It was fun the last time I did it so I figured I might as well do it again. Do you know these songs?”

She nodded and then the music began to play. Every harmonized **_Whoa_** as Kevin started,” _Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for; Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor; And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore; Taking your breath, stealing your mind; And all that was real is left behind”_

They all began to sing together again, “ _ Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya; It's only this moment, don't care what comes after; Your fever dream, can't you see it getting closer; Just surrender 'cause you feel the feeling taking over; It's fire, it's freedom, it's flooding open; It's a preacher in the pulpit and your blind devotion; There's something breaking at the brick of every wall it's holding; All that you know, so tell me do you wanna go? Where it's covered in all the colored lights; Where the runaways are running the night; Impossible comes true, it's taking over you; Oh, this is the greatest show; We light it up, we won't come down _

_ And the sun can't stop us now; Watching it come true, it's taking over you; Oh, this is the greatest show”  _

Reggie began the next part, “ _ ( _ **_Whoa_ ** _ ) colossal we come these renegades in the ring; ( _ **_Whoa_ ** _ ) where the lost get found and we crown them the circus kings.” _

They all began to sing again, “ _ Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya; It's only this moment, don't care what comes after; It's blinding, outshining anything that you know _

_ Just surrender 'cause you're calling and you wanna go; Where it's covered in all the colored lights; Where the runaways are running the night; Impossible comes true, intoxicating you _

_ Oh, this is the greatest show; We light it up, we won't come down; And the sun can't stop us now; Watching it come true, it's taking over you; Oh, this is the greatest show” _

Veronica, Betty, Cheryl, and Toni harmonized together, “ _ It's everything you ever want; _

_ It's everything you ever need; And it's here right in front of you; This is where you wanna be ( _ **_this is where you wanna be_ ** _ ); It's everything you ever want; It's everything you ever need _

_ And it's here right in front of you; This is where you wanna be; This is where you wanna be” _

Jughead, Fangs, and Sweet Pea took on the next part, much to Jezzy’s amusement of watching the gang members sing, “ _ Where it's covered in all the colored lights; Where the runaways are running the night; Impossible comes true, it's taking over you; Oh, this is the greatest show; We light it up, we won't come down; And the sun can't stop us now; Watching it come true, it's taking over you” _

Archie took the next line with finesse, “ _ This is the greatest show!” _

Jezzy took a breath and stepped up as Sweet Pea did the same, “ _ 'Cause everything you want is right in front of you; And you see the impossible is coming true; And the walls can't stop us ( _ **_now_ ** _ ) now, yeah” _

They all stomped and looked towards where the audience would be sitting, “ _ This is the greatest show!” _

They were all breathing heavily and smiling. Kevin clapped, “That was fantastic! I’ll have the cast list posted later today!”

***

True to his word, Kevin had the list posted by the end of the school day. 

Cast

P.T. Barnum… Archie Andrews

Charity Barnum… Veronica Lodge

Lettie Lutz… Betty Cooper

Jenny Lind… Cheryl Blossom

Tom Thumb… Fangs Fogarty

W.D Wheeler… Reggie Mantle

Philip Carlyle… Sweet Pea

Anne Wheeler… Jezzy

Documentarian… Jughead Jones

Jughead seemed relieved that he didn’t have to actually be on stage. However, Jezzy was shocked that she even got a role. She was just trying to humor everyone else but now… she was stuck. She couldn’t breathe. Thankfully, Veronica opted at that moment to excuse them so that she could get to Pop’s and her speakeasy. She had also offered Jezzy a job so she could start earning some cash which she agreed to. They were all about to leave when they heard some crashing in the hallways, followed by a scream for help. They walked out and found a girl with a boy's head in her lap. He was spasming with his eyes rolled in the back of his head and his hand consistently hitting the locker. He was foaming at the mouth. He looked like he had rabies and everyone stood still as the principle took the boy to the infirmary with his crying girlfriend behind him.

“Well, it looks like Fizzle Rocks may be back. Wanna go investigating?” Jughead commented and turned to Betty. She smiled and pecked him on the lips before agreeing. Everyone then proceeded to go off on their own. Archie took Veronica and Jezzy to Pop’s where Jezzy was introduced to Le Bonne Nuit. It was beautiful. Needless to say, Veronica had impeccable taste. Jezzy offered to help clean and prepare for that night which Veronica gratefully accepted. Eventually, she and Archie left to do God knows what in the office up in the diner. Jezzy just continued to clean and slightly hum to herself when a voice interrupted her, giving her a heart attack.

“So I guess I’m in love with you,” she turned around abruptly and found Sweet Pea leaning against the entryway. He smiled at her reaction and pushed off the wall as he elaborated, “in the musical.”

Her breath left her in relief as she turned back to where she was fixing a table cloth, “Yea, I guess. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to make it awkward.”

She felt his hand touch her hip and she stiffened and looked at him. His dark eyes watching her reaction calculating, “I doubt it’ll be awkward but, who knows, if you play the part well enough, maybe I’ll be in love with you for real.”

She looked down and stepped out of his reach, “I hope not, it’s not a good idea.”

She turned back and grabbed a broom to begin sweeping. She heard him move behind her and heard a machine start to come alive.

She heard his voice before she felt his arms slip around her waist, “ _ You know I want you; It's not a secret I try to hide”  _ Jezzy, again, removed herself from his grip. Only to find herself caged between his arms and the wall, “ _ I know you want me; So don't keep saying our hands are tied” _

He dipped his head down to right next to her ear as he continues, “ _ You claim it's not in the cards; But fate is pulling you miles away; And out of reach from me; But you're here in my heart; So who can stop me if I decide; That you're my destiny?” _

She brought her hands up to his chest and gently pushed. He allowed himself to be pushed back and watched her walk away. Yet, he was determined with her so he walked back over to her, pulling her arms up and then pulling them down in a languid dance, “ _ What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine; Nothing could keep us apart; You'd be the one I was meant to find; It's up to you; And it's up to me; No one can say what we get to be;  _

_ So why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours; Tonight”  _

Jezzy found herself smiling but then caught herself and jumped out of his grip and onto the stage. She turned to face him, and against her better judgment, decided to humor him, “

_ You think it's easy; You think I don't wanna run to you”  _

She stepped off the stage and began to weave through the tables as she kept eye contact with him, only looking down as she brushed her hand against a tablecloth now and again, “ _ But there are mountains; And there are doors that we can't walk through; I know you're wondering why; Because we're able to be; Just you and me; Within these walls; But when we go outside; You're gonna wake up and see that it was hopeless after all” _

She stops in front of him for a moment as she catches her breath. He watched her with burning intensity and as he reaches out to grab her, she spins around him and grabs the broom again. Sweeping and dancing with the broom, “ _ No one can rewrite the stars; How can you say you'll be mine; Everything keeps us apart; And I'm not the one you were meant to find; It's not up to you; It's not up to me; When everyone tells us what we can be; How can we rewrite the stars? Say that the world can be ours; Tonight” _

He walked up to her briskly and stole the broom. He tosses it to the side before grabbing her waist and hoisting her into the air, effortlessly,” _ All I want is to fly with you” _

He drops her back to the ground, “ _ All I want is to fall with you; So just give me all of you” _

He then helped sit her on top of the bar as she sings out with her heart, “ _ It feels impossible” _

He follows her, shaking his head, “ _ It's not impossible” _

She looks at him with uncertainty in her eyes, “ _ Is it impossible?” _

They press their heads together and close their eyes tightly, “ _ Say that it's possible; How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine? Nothing can keep us apart; Cause you are the one I was meant to find; It's up to you; And it's up to me; No one can say what we get to be; Why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours”  _

They stop and breathe and look in each other eyes. His eyes flick down to her lips and she swallows, placing a hand on his chest, “ _ You know I want you; It's not a secret I try to hide; But I can't have you; We're bound to break and; My hands are tied”  _

She looks down at the ground before pushing him away so that she can jump down. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking anywhere but him. He gripped her chin and made her look him in the eyes. Hers full of confusion and slight fear while his with that same burning intensity from moments ago, “Come to the Serpent’s Den with me.”

She debated it for a second before replying, “I told Veronica that I would help out here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he interrupted her, “I already asked her and she said not to worry about it.” She looked shocked but then nodded. He smiled and grabbed her hand before walking her out to the parking lot where she found his motorcycle. 

She looked alarmed and started to pull back against him. He gave a soft chuckle, “Don’t worry. It’s safe and you can trust me.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t ever ridden one before. In fact, she used to drive Marcus’ from time to time. She still felt apprehensive but eventually took the helmet he offered her and sat behind him, linking her fingers around his torso. As it started, she tightened her grip, causing him to smile as he revved the engine and took off. 

***

Betty and Jughead decided to start at the sheriff’s office and talk to Jug’s dad. They asked him if he had heard about anyone taking over the candy business again. To which, he told them no. They explained what had happened at the end of their school day and FP groaned, “I thought we were done with all this crap!”

“Dad, he was fizzing at the mouth, like those people did with that bad batch of Fizzle Rocks stuff but… it was different. This was like any tweak out that we have ever seen. He wanted to hurt himself. His girlfriend was trying to stop him but he just growled and hit his head harder,” Jughead elaborated. FP rubbed his eyes, looking extremely tired. 

“Do you care if we start looking around at the hot spots drugs have been in the past, Mr.Jones?” Betty asked.

FP sighed, “I don’t know. I’m not sure that I want you guys involved yet.” As he finished his sentence, a deputy came rushing in and told him that he needed to come and see this. Betty and Jughead followed FP out to the front of the sheriff’s office where there was a woman laying on the ground, with her eyes rolled in the back of her head, blood running out of her nose, and her mouth foaming. There was a man with her who was banging his head against the hood of a car and had started putting a dent in it. 

“Hey! Stop!” FP shouted at the man who looked at him with his eyes rolled in the back of his head and his mouth foaming. He started to bleed from the nose as he stood up and there was a nasty gash on his forehead from where he was hitting the car. His head tilted to the side like his neck couldn’t hold his head up. He looked at FP with unseeing eyes and then turned towards the road and began to sprint. They shouted again for him to stop as the man stopped in the middle of the road. He just stared at them all as a truck slammed into him, making him fly over the car and then laid in the road lifelessly, a bloody mess. 

Betty and Jughead couldn’t breathe. Jughead tucked Betty into his arm as she buried her head into his chest, letting out a shuttered cry. FP and Jughead just stood there in disbelief as the deputy came over and told them that the girl was dead too. FP ran his hand over his face roughly before turning to his son, “Do what you need to do. I don’t want this shit happening again.”

Jughead nodded and looked at the scene again. They had to get ahead of this before more people died. 

***

Sweet Pea pulled up to the Serpent’s Den and parked it right in front of the entrance. He kept his bike steady as Jezzy got off. He pushed out the kickstand and took the helmet from Jezzy, hanging it from the handle. He readjusted his jacket before leading her inside. It hadn’t changed much since the last time she was there. Except that it was almost completely filled with Serpents this time. She was surprised that she didn’t notice the bar in the corner where people were grabbing drinks. Many were playing pool or darts like last time she was there. On an elevated stand, a girl was dancing, slowly and provocatively. It peaked her interest as Sweet Pea disappeared over to the pool table near Fangs. 

_ Thanks for bringing me here to hang, Sweet Pea _ , she thought as she rolled her eyes. She saw Toni and Cheryl over by the bar and walked over to them. They smiled at her and Toni spoke first, “Hey Jezzy, what are you doing here?”

She shrugged, “Sweet Pea invited me.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, “And then proceeded to go over and play pool trying to swindle people out of there money.”

Toni laughed, “Classic Sweet Pea!”

Jezzy just shrugged but then gestured over to where the girl was dancing, “What is she doing?”

Toni rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “She’s doing the Serpent Dance. It’s a stupid sexist tradition for when a girl wants to join the Serpents. Misogyny apparently never dies!”

Jezzy hummed, watching the girl dance, “Can anyone do it?”

Toni raised her eyebrow, “I mean yeah but why do you wanna join a gang? Isn’t exactly a lifestyle a lot of people opt into.”

The girl blushed. No use hiding the past, what good would that do her, “Well, I actually used to be in a gang at Centerville. I didn’t have any family but I had them, unfortunately, they decided we should go our separate ways which led me here.”

Cheryl looked skeptical, “Why would we let you in when you got kicked out of a different gang? Seems a little suspicious you just got  _ kicked _ out of another and now you magically wanna join us?”

Jezzy nodded, partially understanding but at the same time wanting to defend her honor, “I got kicked out because I found out some information that I wasn’t supposed to. I tried to stop it and was removed.” They seemed to understand after that and gave her sympathetic looks. She hated it. 

Toni put an arm around her, “We’ve all been there. So, yeah, if you wanna join, you gotta do the Serpent Dance. Maybe talk to FP or Jughead about it first though. Just to see what he thinks.”

The girl finished her dance and they all clapped. Jughead and Betty must have entered sometime during their talk because Jughead walked up to the girl to congratulate her and hand her a jacket. Everyone began to cheer and Jezzy looked around and caught Sweet Pea’s eye. She looked down and blushed before walking over to Betty and Jughead.

“Hey Jughead, I was wondering what you would think about me trying to join the Serpents,” she said after greeting them. He thought for a moment before shrugging. He and Betty had already known what had happened to her in more detail than anyone else, including her past.

“I don’t see a problem with it if it’s what you want to do,” he replied. She smiled and nodded gratefully. She walked back to Toni and Cheryl with Betty and they began to talk about the dance. Further explaining it to her and what she needed to do. Once she got everything she needed to understand, Betty offered that they head back to Veronica’s place.

They were about to leave when Sweet Pea and Fangs came over to them, laughing their asses off. The girls all looked at them with confused looks as they tried to settle themselves down. Sweet Pea noticed that Jezzy had her book bag slung over her shoulder and gave her a look, “You leavin’?” 

She didn’t look him in the eye but still nodded. Fangs gave her a pouty lip and whined, “Why?”

She shrugged unsure of what to say but, thankfully, Cheryl chimed in, “Sorry boys, we are all gonna head out because we wanna start learning our line. Unlike you all, we want to give the best performances possible!” 

Jezzy let out a sigh of relief at the help of the red-headed girl. While Sweet Pea did bring her here, he seemed more interested in playing pool with Fangs. She wasn’t upset or anything, it was just she didn’t see the point of hanging on the sidelines. He must have realized what he was doing at that moment because he walked up to her. She looked up into his dark eyes as he spoke, “You kinda bored?”

She started chewing on her bottom lip but still nodded and looked down. He nodded understandingly, “Ok, well I’m sorry I got sidetracked. Next time will be different. I promise.”

Jezzy gave an appreciative smile and nodded before following Betty out of the den. Just as the girls all left, FP came in looking stressed out. Jughead called all the remaining Serpents together when FP came in and got everyone to settle down, “Alright listen up! My dad needs our help!”

FP stepped up, “So, today, I’m sure some of you saw a kid at school, we may have the start of a new drug ring starting up. Now, I don’t want you guys out there trying to hunt these people down. We don’t know enough about the drug or who is doing this yet. I just need you all to be my eyes on the street and report back to me, got it?”

Everybody voiced their agreements and were dismissed to do their own things again. Jughead, Fangs, and Sweet Pea over in the corner, talking about what their game plan would be through this investigation.

***

The rest of the week breezed by and it was opening night. Surprisingly, that was going well too. Jezzy was thrilled that she hadn’t messed up her lines and remembered all of the song lyrics. Kevin had changed up the ending a little to try and make a statement about how we are who we are supposed to be. She ran backstage to change her costume.

She opened the door to her dressing room and saw a bouquet of flowers on her vanity. She cocked her head at them and opted to change before looking at them. They were yellow sunflowers with baby breath buds scattered around them and a single rose in the dead center of the bouquet. The vase was wrapped in a green bow that matched the stems of the flowers and below the vase, there was a card. She picked it up and read the note.

_ Break a leg, little one. I’m cheering for you -L _

L? She didn’t know anyone whose initials started with L. Plus, she didn’t think she knew anyone well enough for them to get her flowers. She shook her head and there was a knock on her door before Jughead’s head poked in along with his camera. He gave her a grin and walked over to where she was standing over the flowers, “Hey, whatcha got there?”

He zoomed in on the flowers and then back out to her face, “Who are they from?”

Jezzy shrugs, “I don’t know, it’s only signed with the initial L…”

She shows him the note which he zooms in on for his documentary on the musical. There was another knock on her door from Kevin, telling her that she needed to get on stage for the finale. She nodded and looked at Jughead for support. When she saw him nod, she took in a breath, fixed her hair, and then walked out to where the stage was pitch black. 

A single spotlight lit up the stage on Betty in all her bearded glory. She looked up and gave a gentle smile as she started to sing, “ _ I'm not a stranger to the dark; Hide away, they say;  _

_ 'Cause we don't want your broken parts; I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars; Run away, they say; No one will love you as you are” _

Everybody started to walk onto the stage as Betty keeps singing, “ _ But I won't let them break me down to dust; I know that there's a place for us; For we are glorious” _

Spotlights began to hit each person one by one as the tempo sped up, “ _ When the sharpest words wanna cut me down; I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out; I am brave, I am bruised; I am who I'm meant to be, this is me; Look out 'cause here I come; And I'm marching on to the beat I drum; I'm not scared to be seen; I make no apologies, this is me” _

They all began to sway and harmonize  **_oh_ ** before Fangs took over and sang him part, “ _ Another round of bullets hits my skin; Well, fire away 'cause today, I won't let the shame sink in;  _

_ We are bursting through the barricades; And reaching for the sun ( _ **_we are warriors_ ** _ ); Yeah, that's what we've become” _

Everyone began to chant, “ _ Won't let them break me down to dust; I know that there's a place for us; For we are glorious” _

The chorus hit again and they all began to dance. Stomping their feet and moving their arms jerking up and down to the beat. Occasionally, taking a step towards one another and looking at eachother, “ _ When the sharpest words wanna cut me down; Gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out; I am brave, I am bruised; I am who I'm meant to be, this is me; Look out 'cause here I come; And I'm marching on to the beat I drum; I'm not scared to be seen; I make no apologies, this is me...This is me” _

Cheryl began to sing the next part and was hitting the high note perfectly as everyone else kept on dancing, “ _ And I know that I deserve your love; There's nothing I'm not worthy of” _

The songs slows down again and Veronica begins to sing, “ _ When the sharpest words wanna cut me down; I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out; This is brave, this is bruised; This is who I'm meant to be, this is me” _

Everyone begins to sing again with Archie coming in behind them to reiterate the line _ , “Look out 'cause here I come (look out 'cause here I come); And I'm marching on to the beat I drum (marching on, marching, marching on); I'm not scared to be seen; I make no apologies, this is me” _

Sweet Pea and Jezzy make their way to the center of the stage to chant the next part, “ _ Whenever the words wanna cut me down; I'll send the flood to drown them out; I'm gonna send the flood, gonna drown them out” _

Everyone jumped and landed in a line across the stage to finish the song, “ _ This is me!” _

They are all breathing hard and there was a slight pause before the audience began to cheer and clap. They all broke out smiles and took each other's hands to take a bow. Afterward, they all began to hug each other and congratulate each other on a successful opening night. Jezzy was so caught up in hugging everyone and smiling, she didn’t notice two, strong arms wrapping around her waist and hoisting her into the air and twirling. She let out a squeal as the arms set her down and she came face to face with Sweet Pea. She looked down and blushed before patting him on the chest and going to join the others to go change.

She didn’t even notice the dark figure slipping out of the auditorium. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I had to do a musical chapter just like they always do lol. I don't own any of the songs. I hope you all still like it! Chapter 4 to come soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Regardless of what anyone had to say about Cheryl, she knew how to throw one hell of a party. After everyone got out of costume, Cheryl announced there would be a cast party at Thistle House. Everyone had excitedly agreed to be there and within the hour, everyone was laughing and dancing as the alcohol flowed freely. 

It had felt like forever since Jezzy drank alcohol so she wasn’t exactly sure how much she wanted to drink. It wouldn’t take much for her to start to feel something. However, Veronica had made sure she had a drink in her hands at all times and that she was actually drinking it. Whatever Cheryl had mixed in that jungle juice, it was strong. She was about two and a half cups in. Toni had convinced her to come take some Jell-O shots with her and a few of the others.

She was dragged over by Toni to where Fangs, Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica were standing with Jell-O shots in hand. Fangs passed one over to her before holding his up in a cheery manner. They all bumped cups before downing them. They tasted sweet, almost too sweet for there to be any alcohol in them. They all grabbed another before doing the same pattern. This went on for about another two before Jezzy started to get a slight buzz. She sat down with the others as they all laughed. 

An arm came around her shoulder and she turned to find Sweet Pea lounging against the arm of the couch. She smiled a little bigger at him and relaxed into the couch. They continued to chat for a while before someone suggested Truth or Dare. Everyone agreed, including Jezzy, at least it wasn’t Secrets and Sins. They all gathered around the table and placed a bottle in the center. Cheryl grabbed the bottle and spun. It ended up landing on Fangs. Cheryl gave an evil grin, “Fangs, Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” he replied without hesitation. 

“Do you prefer men or women?” she asked and Fangs blushed.

“Well, uh, I’ve been with both. Honestly, I don’t think that matters. I think it’s more based on the person than their gender so,” Fangs finished, glancing over at Kevin who gave him a gentle smile. Without another word, Fangs spun the bottle and it landed on Toni.

“Dare!” she proclaims and Fangs dares her to kiss any guy in the group. She walked over and pulled Reggie into a drawn-out kiss which everyone gasped at thinking he would be her last choice. When she pulled away, everyone was looking at her with wide eyes. She shrugs, “What? Figured he was the safest option to make sure I don’t get my ass beat later.”

She spun the bottle and it landed on Archie who chose truth. She thought for a moment, “What is your hidden kink?”

Eyebrows quirked at him as he began to blush and look at Veronica who looked smug. He rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh, I don’t know, I mean I guess I kinda like the idea of almost being caught…”

“Ooo we have an exhibitionist,” Jughead laughed and elbowed him with a wink. Archie gave a quick laugh and spun the bottle. This time, landing on Sweet Pea. He lifts his head up and puffs his head out slightly, “Dare.”

Archie thought for a minute, wanting to give the Serpent a tough one. Then, he thought of it and grinned, “I dare you to take a body shot off of Fangs.”

Sweet Pea cringed and Cheryl piped up, “Or, you can chicken out.”

That settled it. Sweet Pea stood up and gestured at Fangs, “Fangs get your ass up and take off your shirt!” 

Fangs grinned and made a show of taking his shirt off in his slightly drunken state. He laid down on the floor and Toni put a line of salt above his belly button while Cheryl filled his naval with tequila and placed a lime beside it. Toni grinned, “No hands, Sweets.”

He inwardly groaned but still got down on his knees. Everyone began to chant for him as he took a breath, swiping his tongue across the line of salt, sucking the tequila out of his belly button, and grabbing the lime in between his teeth to suck. He stood stiffly and took his seat back beside Jezzy. He spun the bottle and it landed on Betty. She sighed and sat forward from where she was relaxing against Jughead’s arm, “I’ll do… Truth.”

“Where is the weirdest place you and Jughead have had sex?” he asked bluntly. 

Betty blushed, “Isn’t that a little personal?”

Everyone just looked at her expectantly and she rolled her eyes, sitting back against Jughead again who rubbed her arm in support, “Well, there was one time, that we…” she mumbled that last part, and everyone leaned forward. 

“I’m sorry cousin, what was that?” Cheryl asked, leaning in closer.

Betty buried her head in her hands, her face a bright red, “We once did it at Sweetwater swimming hole.”

There was a pause before Fangs scoffed, “Hasn’t everyone done it there?”

They all began to giggle and the game kept on. They kept drinking throughout the entire game and soon, everyone was more giggly than anything else. Eventually, the bottle landed on Jezzy with Sweet Pea being the one to ask. She thought for a moment, lulling her head back and forth for a moment before responding, “Dare.”

He grinned widely, “I dare you to kiss me.”

Her eyes widened, “What? Why?”

He smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Ya know, we technically were supposed to kiss at the end of the musical but that, unfortunately, didn’t happen tonight. So, I thought maybe this would be better than in front of a random audience… or you can call chicken and get the punishment dare”

She blushed, not looking him in the eye. She sighed but nodded as everyone watched with great interest, “I, uh, kinda want to take the punishment dare… there is still an audience.”

She looked up waiting for his reaction but his eyes were filled with understanding. The others looked the other way quickly but brought their attention back when he cleared his throat, “She wants the punishment dare… what do you guys think it should be?”

They all walked away from her and began to whisper to each other in a huddle. After a minute or so of deliberating, they looked at her with a smirk. Cheryl walked forward, “Well, if you’re uncomfortable with an audience… Your punishment is seven minutes of heaven with Sweet Pea still.” 

Jezzy’s blush brightened more but she knew she had to take it. Sweet Pea smirked and reached for her hand. He pulled her up to his side and walked her over to the closet. He opened the door for her and then walked in behind her. There was a small lightbulb above their heads that flickered every once and a while. She looked at him and seemed a little uncomfortable and he seemed to sense it. 

“Hey, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that,” he said caressing her cheek.

“Then why did you do it?” She asked. He sighed. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asks, making her cock her head in confusion. His hand moved down to the junction of her head and neck and took another step closer, “I want to kiss you.”

She didn’t have any chance to reply, her eyes simply widened as his mouth ducked down to capture her lip. She slowly closed her eyes. His mouth was soft against hers, applying just enough pressure to make her toes tingle. He didn’t press her and she hesitantly wraps her arms around his neck. He began to deepen the kiss. The hand not on her head came to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. 

What was wrong with this? Why did she have her guard up so high with him? He was tall, muscular, and absolutely sexy and… he wanted her to some sort of degree. She decided that, at least at this moment, she was going to let herself go. She was going to stop thinking and just let herself feel and be in this moment. 

His tongue swept across her bottom lip which made her give out a slight squeak but she still let him in. He groaned and moved both his hands to her hips, gently pushing her against the wall. She gasped against him and they met each other’s eyes. He growled and picked her up, pushing her further into the wall. She had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist as their lips met again with ferocity. She ran her fingers up his scalp and through her hair which caused him to moan. He pulled his lips from her which caused her to let out a slightly dissatisfied whine which changed to a small moan as he began to press featherly kissed down her neck. She was panting now as his hands began to push her shirt up slightly, pressing his burning fingertips to her skin. She ran her nails back down his scalp, down to his shoulders, and then down his arms. She pressed a small kiss to his snake tattoo on his neck which caused him to groan and press his knee in between her legs. She gasped which was muffled by his lips back on hers. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a knock causing them to pull their lips apart. 

“Alright,” Toni shouted from the other side of the door, “Seven minutes are up!”

They looked at each other panting as he gently put her down onto the floor. They just stood there for a moment looking at each other before he gave her a small smile, “Thanks, Doll. You have no idea how bad I’ve wanted to do that since meeting you.” 

Jezzy looked down and blushed but nodded. He brushed his lips against hers quickly before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He opened the door and they were met with amused glances. She swallowed and made her way back to the couch and took a drink from her cup. They all followed her back to the couches and all resumed their spots but didn’t continue the game. They just sat there, chatting and laughing until late in the night. However, everyone noticed when Sweet Pea leisurely put his arm over the back of the couch and around Jezzy.

***

They all ended up spending the night at Thistle House and all woke up with awful hangovers. Each slowly woke up late in the afternoon with Jughead and Betty waking up first. They groaned, wishing the bird outside would just  _ shut up _ . Betty grabbed her purse and pulled out a bottle of Advil. Veronica and Archie were the next to wake up. All of them immediately popped the pills from Betty’s purse. Eventually, everyone was up and decided to go back to their respective homes. When Betty, Veronica, and Jezzy got back to The Pembrook, they each showered and changed. They opted to go to Pop’s for some burgers and they messaged the guys to meet up with them there. When they all arrived at Pop’s, they ate their greasy food in peace but Archie spoke up as they slowly drank their milkshakes.

“Did you guys hear that three more people died last night on that new drug. Apparently, on the streets, they are known as ‘Lollies’,” he informed the group. 

“Whatever they are called, they are dangerous. I haven’t seen anyone trip like these people since that bad batch of Fizzle Rocks and we were able to stop pretty quick because we knew who the Sugan Man was. Right now, we have no idea who and how they are distributing this,” Jughead said in frustration. 

“Do you think Reggie would know anything about it?” Betty said thoughtfully.

“I doubt it, after everything with Jingle-Jangle, he tried to avoid drugs at all costs,” Archie concluded and Veronica nodded. 

“Yeah, he absolutely flipped when Penny Peabody sent me that shipment. He said he couldn’t be around that stuff,” Veronica agreed.

“Is it possible this Penny Peabody would know anything?” Jezzy questioned taking a sip of her chocolate shake. 

Jughead moved his head back and forth, thinking, “I’m not sure. My mom really did a number on her. Do we really think she would risk coming back to Riverdale  _ again _ to sell drugs?”

Betty shrugged, “I mean it's possible. Is there any way we could have someone do recon on the Ghoulies? They may be starting to come back.”

Jughead nodded, “I can have some of the Serpents look into it.”

“It seems like it is primarily selling on the Northside so maybe I can try looking around and setting up some sort of drug deal to at least get someone who is selling it. They may lead us to the Sugar Man with enough persuasion,” Archie said. 

Veronica put a hand on his arm, “Do you think that’s a good idea, Archie, I mean if you get caught with that stuff you could go back to prison.”

Jezzy widened her eyes at that news. She would never think that Archie would have been in prison. As if reading her thoughts, Archie looked at her, “It’s a long story.”

Jezzy nodded. Betty then piped up, “I don’t know Arch. I feel like they would recognize you and run the other way. You're not exactly known to try and buy drugs. Plus, everyone in town knows you're a boxer so they may think something up.”

“What if I did it?” Jezzy thought out loud. Everyone stared at her. She blushed, “Not very many people know me very well. So I’m probably the least likely to be recognized. Also, people don’t know what I do in my free time.”

They looked hesitant. 

“You're risking a lot if you do this. Are you sure you’re up to it?” Betty asked. Jezzy nodded. 

“If you do this, we should probably get my dad involved. At least that way, he’s aware that it is not actually something you’re into. Plus, he could be there to help in the takedown,” Jughead said, already planning. They all nodded in agreement and Jughead pulled out his phone to text his dad. 

“Is there anyone, in particular, I should try asking?” Jezzy asked. They all thought hard. 

“Well, there is that group of stoners that hide in the closet under the stair. You know, where Featherhead was found when our parents were in high school,” Veronica said. Archie, Betty, and Jughead nodded while Jezzy gave a small laugh.

“I don’t know who Featherhead is but I think I know where you are talking about,” After she said that, they all laughed. After the laughter died down, they all began to conjure a plan on how to try and catch some sort of lead on these Lollies. 


	5. Chapter 5

“I feel ridiculous!” Jezzy whined as Betty and Veronica started taking out the twelve braids they insisted on putting in her hair before bed last night. She didn’t understand why they were making her do this. 

“You’re gonna look great and our plan is going to work!” Betty insisted as she methodically pulled the braids out. So far, it was a really good look on her.

“Why are we doing this part again?” Jezzy asked. 

“Until we know who is behind this, we just wanna alter your look slightly for your meetup. If it’s Penny and she sees you hanging out with us, then she might get suspicious,” Betty explains which causes Veronica to hum in agreement. 

There was a knock at the door and Jezzy asked who it was. Veronica smiled.

“That’s Toni and Cheryl with your wardrobe. Now, enough boring talk,” Veronica declared with a grin and grabbed some black eyeliner from her vanity, “Let’s get you ready!”

***

Jughead, Archie, Fangs, Kevin, and Sweet Pea were all in the student lounge just hanging out until first period. It was about fifteen minutes until the bell would ring. The boys began to wonder where the girls were. Reggie walked in and greeted them all before having a seat in a cushioned chair. He couldn’t have been sitting there for more than thirty seconds before he sat up straight, staring at the door, “Whoa.”

That got all of the boys' attention and they turned towards the girls walking in. Behind all of them was Jezzy, looking completely different than normal. Sweet Pea’s mouth went dry and all the guys' mouths dropped. 

She looked a little uncomfortable in her new outfit but tried to be as confident as possible. It was obvious that Toni had been in charge with her clothes. She was wearing combat boots that made her stand an inch taller. She had on black fishnets and a black, jean skirt. She wore a dark purple crop top that showed off  _ plenty _ of cleavage thanks to the low v-neck. Her blond hair had been crimped, which Sweet Pea thought suited her well. Her eyes were lined in black eyeliner with a purplish-red eyeshadow and her lips were colored with a deep maroon lipstick. Probably thanks to Cheryl. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she gave everyone a small wave. The other girls smirked, seemingly proud of their work. 

“When are you going to the closet?” Archie asked as he wrapped his arm around Veronica. 

“I thought I would try and see if they were there during fourth period,” Jezzy replied. Jughead must have filled the other guys who weren’t at Pop’s in because they didn’t question what they were talking about. The bell rang, telling them to go to class. She readjusted her book bag on her shoulder as Sweet Pea came up to her. She blushed, partially remembering what happened at the casting party and partially wondering what he was thinking. 

He lifted her chin so that he could get a good look at her. His eyes burned into her before he turned to see if anyone was around. Everyone had already filed out so it was just the two of them. Quickly, he swooped down and brushed his lips to hers. She couldn’t even react before he pulled away and moved to her ear, “You look great Doll.”

She blushed but before she could respond, he had disappeared out the door. 

***

As fourth period started, Jezzy walked over to the closet under the staircase. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She heard coughing and was hit hard with the smell of weed as the door opened. A guy opened the door, his black hair falling into his eyes which were sunken into his skull. He looked at her with hazy eyes, “What do you want?”

She shrugged, “I was hoping you could help me get something  _ sweet _ if you know what I mean.”

The request seemed to register on his face. He looked around to see if anyone was watching before opening the door further, “Step into my office.”

There were a couple more stoners in there with him but looked so high, they weren’t paying attention to anything around them. They just sat there, staring vacantly at the ceiling. He gestured for her to sit down on the floor next to him and she did so. 

“What’s your name?” He asked point-blank.

She figured that she shouldn’t use her real name, just to be on the safe side. She shrugged, “Jessy.” 

“So, Jessy, what kinda candy are you looking for? Weed? Jingle-Jangle? Fizzle Rocks?” he asked, pulling out a bag that contained all of them. She swallowed, not believing that he had such easy access to all of that. She leaned forward.

“I was actually hoping that you had something different. I heard there was something new on the market, Lollies?” God, she prayed she didn’t seem suspicious. He thought for a second, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Then, it dawned on the kid. 

“I know what you’re talking about but I ain’t got none of that shit. Seems too risky to have it right now,” he replied, shaking his head.  _ And the rest of this isn’t _ , she thought bitterly.

“Look, my friends and I are having a little get together later tonight and we really wanna try it. Do you have any idea where I could get some?” She asked, giving a pleading smile.

The kid thought for a moment, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. He leaned in close, “Look, I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard that there may be a candy man who hangs out by that old Serpent bar, the Whyte Wyrm.”

She hummed in reply and nodded before standing up, “Cool. Thanks for your help.”

He nodded and gave her a dismissive wave as she left the closet. He was blazing up again before she even had set foot out of the place. She coughed when she left the closet and took a deep breath of fresh air. She may have gotten a second hand high from being in there for so long. She walked slowly to the student lounge where the others were supposed to be waiting for her. As she entered, the others straightened up in their seats. She walked over to the closest seat which was in between Sweet Pea and Fangs. She was starting to get a headache. 

She rubbed her eyes and sighed, “He didn’t have any but he said he heard a rumor that someone was selling it in an old bar on the Southside. The, uh, Whyte Wyrm.”

Jughead, Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Toni all stiffened and looked enraged. Jughead stood up, with his hand, “First, Hiram buys it to make Jingle-Jangle and now this. That place used to be the Serpent’s headquarters and a place we called home. Now, it’s being disrespected for the second time.” 

“So what’s the plan boss?” Fangs asked as he leaned forward, leaning his arms on his legs. They were silent for a moment, nobody dared speak.

“I can go,” Jezzy offered.

“No!” Sweet Pea deadpanned, standing up. The others nodding in agreement.

“Why not? It makes the most sense. If that kid is at all involved, then he’ll be expecting to see me there tonight. Plus, as you guys said, I’m the only one that not a whole lot of people know,” she reasoned, a little offended that they didn’t think she was up for it. They all were quiet again and processed what they said. 

Eventually, Jughead resigned and sighed, “Fine! But we’re gonna be nearby in case you get into trouble and you will do  _ everything _ I say! This is still the Southside which was Serpent territory. We may have lost it for the time being but that is still our home!”

They all nodded and Jezzy agreed to the conditions but Sweet Pea did not seem to be happy with the situation. The bell rang and everyone began to file out. Jezzy stayed behind for a moment and grabbed some Advil from her bag and took two to try and get rid of her residual headache. After taking it, she groaned and massaged her temple trying to get rid of the throbbing. 

Sweet Pea sat next to her on the couch and pulled her hands away from her head, making her look at him. He looked at her with an intensity of frustration and worry, “Why did you volunteer to do this?”

Jezzy was confused by his question, “I want to help.”

“But you don’t  _ need _ to,” He stressed. 

“Yes, I do! I have… some things that I need to do right by and this is a way I can do that,” she told him with sincerity. 

“And what could those be?” He asked bluntly. She really didn’t want to tell him but she had a feeling that he wasn’t gonna drop this anytime soon.

She signed, “Back in Centerville, I was… associated with”

“A gang?” He asked. 

Her mouth fell open, “How did you know that?”

He gave her a smirk, “I’m more observant than most people think. Kinda put the pieces together when you came out of nowhere and you seemed so relaxed in the Serpent’s Den. Most people look nervous with so many Serpents around but you seemed at ease, so I figured you may have dealt with one in the past.”

She nodded slowly. He leaned in close, running his fingers over her knuckles, “What happened?”

She looked at him with fear in her eyes and whispered, “I’m not ready to talk about that yet…”

He nodded and squeezed her hands in understanding. He bent his head down to catch her eyes again, filling in the blanks she hadn’t said yet, “So, in this gang, they were dealing drugs and now, you feel like you need to stop this in order to make up what happened in Centerville?”

She looked at him with watery eyes. She let out a shaky, soft sob and whispered, “I tried to stop it there but… he refused.”

He pulled her into him and let her softly cry into his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her hair trying to calm her down. Slowly, her breath began to even out and she pulled back. They were silent for a moment before she spoke, “Why do you care if I do this?”

He didn’t talk for a moment and then he took her chin in his hand, “Because I care about you, Doll.” 

She looked at him before nodding and looking down. She knew they were already going to be late to fifth period but didn’t really care. Regardless, she got up and made her way to her next class.


	6. Chapter 6

That night, they were all silent as they drove to the Southside. They parked in the Whyte Wyrm parking lot but about as far away as they possibly could. Jughead, Fangs, Toni, and Sweet Pea were all in the car with Jezzy. The others were waiting at the Serpent’s Den. They all turned to Jezzy who was chewing on her bottom lip, looking at the neon sign. 

“Okay, so this is your plan,” Jughead began, “You’re gonna go in there and attempt to buy a few of these Lollies. Try not to be suspicious but try and take in things from your surroundings. Who is there? Are they making it there? All of that kind of stuff. Do  _ not _ try to do anything else besides the sale and as soon as you do that then you get the hell out of there.”

“Keep my number pulled up on your phone, if there is any trouble, you click call and we will be in there in a heartbeat,” Sweet Pea told her, placing a hand on her knee. She nodded and took a breath. They all looked apprehensive. 

She gave a reassuring smile, “I got this, guys.”

She stepped out of the car and towards the bar. When she walked in, there was smoke everywhere. People were sitting at the bar, drinking and smoking. There were people scattered around in tables all watching a stripper that was dancing around the stage. In the corners, people were buying drugs. It seemed to be primarily men in the bar and they were all dressed similarly. Each had a leather vest with a skull on the back and the name Ghoulie underneath. She must have looked lost because this man came up to her. He had shaggy, greasy hair and dark, hollow circles underneath his eye. He gave her a crooked smile, “Can I help you gorgeous?”

She resisted flinching at his words and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, “Maybe, I’m having a party tonight and my friends and I were wanting to try something. We heard about this new stuff that we could maybe get… Lollies?”

His grin grew wider and he put an arm around her shoulders, taking her deeper into the bar and directing her through a doorway. It led down a stairwell and into the basement of the bar where several couches laid amongst different drug-making materials. She swallowed. He gestured for her to sit down. He sat across from her and stretched himself out and put his arms behind his head. They were silent for a moment.

“What’s your name, cutie?” He asked and she hated the fact that he kept giving her nicknames.

“Jesse.”

“Jesse,” he purred, “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

She gave an uncomfortable smile as he sat up, “I got what you need, how many do you want?”

She ran a hand through her hair, “Depends, how much are they?”

“$25 each.”

She nodded, “I only have $50 on me so I guess I’ll take two.”

He nodded and walked over to a table and grabbed two Lollies. They looked deceivingly like normal suckers. They were packaged in clear wrapping and were a variety of colors from red to green to blue to purple. If she didn’t know that it was a drug then she would have just assumed it was simply candy.  _ But I guess that’s the point _ , she thought to herself.

He threw them on the table in front of her before sitting down next to her. He slung his arm over the back of the couch and watched her as she began to reach for her purse. He put a hand on her wrist to make her stop for a moment. He gave her that crooked grin again, “You know, I could give you a discount.”

He began to run his hand up her thigh. She shied away and scooted out of his reach. She gave him a seemingly apologetic smile, “I think I’ll just pay cash this time. I need to get to the party anyway.”

She pulled out the cash and put it in his palm. She went to stand and he followed and walked her out to the door. Before she was able to exit, he leaned across the doorway to stop her. He handed her a card and winked, “If you ever need anything, give me a call. I’m your guy, gorgeous.”

She took it and gave him another smile before he sauntered away. She tried to shake the heebie-jeebies away and looked down at the card.

**Asher**

**867-5309**

When she got back in the car, she was immediately brought close to a hard body and her face was placed in between two large hands. Her eyes met Sweet Pea’s which were filled with concern. He moved her head from side to side, checking for any injuries. Everyone else was quiet as he continued his inspection. Eventually, she wrapped her hand around his wrist causing him to look her in the eye, “I’m fine, I promise.”

He didn’t look like he completely believed her but he still nodded. She pulled the Lollies out of her bag and put them on the armrest of the front seat followed by the card the guy gave her, “They brought me down to the basement where it looks like they may be making something but he gave me all this so I hope this is a start.”

Jughead nodded, “It is, now, we need to figure up how to get up the supply chain. Let’s get back to the others so we can figure out our next move.”

The ride back was quiet. Toni and Fangs were whispering to each other about the drugs and examining the packaging closely. Sweet Pea kept glancing over at Jezzy as they continued to drive. Eventually, she sighed and turned to him, “I promise you that I’m ok. Nothing happened.”

He leaned in close and simply said, “You smell different.”

She shrugged, “That guy, Asher, tried to make a small move on me but I shot him down and that was all. He gave me the drugs and then I came back to you guys.”

His hand came to rest on her thigh and growled, “He touched you.”

“And if there was really a problem or he really tried anything I would have called you. I had a hand on my phone the whole time just in case,” she reassured him. He squeezed her thigh lightly but seemingly let it go for the moment. They pulled into the parking lot of the Serpent’s Den. As they all got out, something fell out of Jezzy’s purse. It was a keychain in the shape of a lion.  _ That hadn’t been there before, _ she noted. Perplexed, she picked it up but immediately dropped it when she saw the inscription on the back. 

_ Watch where you tread little girl. _

No! This couldn’t be happening! It wasn’t possible. Why would he even do this when he was the one that forced her to leave. Her anger began to flare up and she picked up the keychain again before chucking it as far away from her as possible. She glared in the direction of where she threw it and talked quietly, “Go to hell, Marcus!”

With that, she followed the others into the Serpent’s Den. It was pretty busy there with chatter amongst several groups. She walked over to where her friends were sitting on the couch. When she got there, Betty and Toni gave her a knowing smile. There was no way she was going to let some stupid keychain get in the way of her plans tonight. She wanted to enjoy herself and take care of something she had been wanting to do for over a week. 

She eventually excused herself to the bathroom. When she got there, she made preparations for what she planned on doing. She touched up her hair and makeup and then proceeded to change. When she was done, she was wearing a white button-up shirt that was tied at the waist and a skirt that clasped on her hip. Betty and Toni came in and smiled when they saw her. 

“You look great!” Betty said as her smile grew wider. She had filled Jughead in on what was going on so that he wouldn’t be caught completely off guard. 

“You ready?” Toni asked and Jezzy nodded. Betty and Toni nodded back and exited the bathroom and went to talk to the DJ. She heard the music start to play and she stepped out of the bathroom and onto the inclined stage and walked over to the poll in the corner. It was time for her to do her Serpent Dance. 

She placed her hand on the pole with her back to it. She didn’t sing, she simply listened to the lyrics and did what she had practiced with Toni and Betty.  _ We are, we are, we are. _

She took her hands off the pole and caused her to make a human T. She brought her hands to her hips and slithered down the pole until she was barely above the floor.  _ L.A. on a Saturday night in the summer; Sun down and they all come out; Lamborghinis and their rented Hummers; The party's on, so they're heading downtown. _

She put her hands behind her head and wrapped them around the poll. She looked around and saw all but Jughead, Betty, and Toni looking completely shocked. She glanced over at Sweet Pea and saw his eyes darken with immense intensity.  _ Everybody's looking for a come-up; And they wanna know what you're about.  _ She pulled herself and turned her back to the crowd. She began to move her body in a wavelike motion against the pole.  _ Me in the middle with the one I love and; We're just tryna figure everything out.  _

She pulled herself away from the pole and gently swung herself around the pole. First clockwise and then counter-clockwise. Her eyes shut as she lulled her head back as she did so.  _ We don't fit in well; 'Cause we are just ourselves; I could use some help; Getting out of this conversation, here.  _

She walked to the front of the pole and started to slowly unknot and undo the buttons on her shirt. She couldn’t help but make eye contact with Sweet Pea as she did so. It helped her gain more confidence. Especially when he tilted his head up and gave a small nod with a smirk as he crossed his arms to enjoy the show.  _ You look stunning, dear; So don't ask that question here; This is my only fear; That we become.  _

She ripped the shirt away from her body and it landed on the floor as she grabbed the pole and swung around it, her legs tucked up against her body.  _ Beautiful people; Drop-top, designer clothes; Front row at fashion shows.  _

She wrapped her legs around it and leaned back. Jezzy arched her back and let her hands go up above her head, pushing her bust out further.  _ "What d'you do?" and "Who d'you know?"; Inside the world of; Beautiful people.  _ She pulled herself back up against the pole and slid down in slowly, landing in the splits. She remained there for a moment, hands continuing to glide down the pole before pulling herself back up.  _ Champagne and rolled-up notes; Pre-nups and broken homes; Surrounded, but still alone; Let's leave the party.  _

She began to grind against it again slowly, looking around the crowd with hooded eyes.  _ That's not who we are (We are, we are, we are); We are not beautiful; Yeah, that's not who we are (We are, we are, we are); We are not beautiful.  _

She pulled herself up the metal until she was almost the top. She remained there for a moment and bit her lip. She let go of it with one of her hands and allowed that hand to guide her almost completely before slowly pulling herself up again. She moved her torso against the pole slowly, pushed her breasts onto the pole in what she was hoping was a sexy manner. Before she flipped herself over and landed softly with her feet on the floor.  _ Drove for hours last night and we made it nowhere; I see stars in your eyes when we're halfway there; I'm not fazed by all the lights and flashing cameras; 'Cause with my arms around you, there's no need to care.  _

She stood in front of the crowd again. She slowly ran a hand through her hair and trailed her fingers down her body as the other slowly crept up her thigh. They met at the junction that kept her skirt together and leisurely swayed her hips as she began to undo her skirt in the same fashion as her shirt.  _ We don't fit in well; We are just ourselves; I could use some help; Getting out of this conversation here; You look stunning, dear; So don't ask that question here; This is my only fear; That we become.  _

She grabbed the pole again and flipped herself again latching her legs around so that she remained upside-down. She kicked out her one leg and pointed her toes as she slowly descended down the pole, caught herself on her hand, and landed in the splits.  _ Beautiful people; Drop-top, designer clothes; Front row at fashion shows.  _ She crawled to the center of the stage and pulled her legs towards her. Sitting with her legs in the shape of a W, she ran her fingers through her hair with her eyes shut and she moved herself to be on her knees.  _ "What d'you do?" and "Who d'you know?"; Inside the world of; Beautiful people.  _ She gently and slowly moved her hands around her body. She caressed parts of her body as she made eye contact with Sweet Pea again. Now, there was something different in his eyes. She moved her hands to her hips and began to sway them slowly.  _ Champagne and rolled-up notes; Pre-nups and broken homes; Surrounded, but still alone; Let's leave the party.  _

She stood up again and swung herself around the pole before grinding against it meticulously again.  _ That's not who we are (We are, we are, we are); We are not beautiful; Yeah, that's not who we are (We are, we are, we are); We are not beautiful.  _

She moved to be in front of the pole as she slowly brought herself down it and landed on her knees.  _ (We are, we are, we are); We are not beautiful.  _ She sank to rest her weight on her heels and folded her hands over her lap, looking to the side as the song ended.  _ Aye.  _

There was a moment where everything was silent and Jezzy was breathing a little heavily. Then everyone broke out into applause as Jughead jumped up on the stage and helped her stand. He got everyone to settle down before he began to talk, “Alright, I think it’s clear that Jezzy here is dedicated to becoming a Serpent. So, let’s give her another round of applause if we are ready to welcome her into our family!”

The Den erupted into another round of applause with hooting and hollering. She smiled and Jughead presented her with a leather jacket which she gratefully accepted to help shield her body. After that, the entire place broke into a complete celebration. Everything with the Lollies and mysteries could wait until tomorrow, tonight they have fun. 

She ran to the bathroom and pulled back on her shirt and skirt, opting to wear them instead of trying to pull on her original outfit that included trying to get into those horrid fishnets again. She made sure to pull on her new jacket again before exiting the bathroom. Everyone cheered again and she was handed a shot of tequila and a cocktail of some sort. 

After a few drinks, Sweet Pea found her in the crowd and pulled her into a corner. She gave her a bright smile as he trapped her in between his arms. He dipped his head down to her ear so he knew that she would be able to hear him, “That was quite the surprise and  _ quite _ the show, Doll.”

She hummed and smiled, slightly tipsy from the drinks. She opted to be a little flirty and just live in the moment, “Does that mean you liked it?”

He kissed the junction of her ear and her neck, “I’d like a private show even better.”

He moved his head to try and capture her lips but she turned her face away and giggled. She pressed her hand against her chest and pushed slightly so she could see his face. She began to run down his arm with a small smile on her face before looking at him, “Can you keep a secret?”

He smiled and nodded. Her smile brightened as she leaned in close, “I like you… a lot but I’m scared because I don’t just want to be some hookup. I want something more.”

He interrupted her before she could continue, “And you don’t think I do?” He dipped down to her ear again and whispered, “I planned on making you mine tonight if you want that.”

Her gaze became slightly distant and traced her finger against his tattoo again as she replied, “I want that more than anything but… I’ve been broken.”

He shook his head, “No, Doll, you’re not broken. You’re simply bruised.”

She looked up at him in surprise and tears began to well up in her eyes but she refused to let tears fall. He pressed his forehead to hers, “Let me help you heal.”

She took a shaky breath but he felt her nod slightly against his head. That was all he needed before he captured her lips and pressed her further into the wall. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he ran his hands down her sides, landing on her hips. They both pulled away breathlessly and they both smiled. Sweet Pea cocked his head, “So, you're officially my girl?”

Jezzy’s cheeks tinted as she looked down, “Looks like it.”

He smiled brightly, teeth showing brightly in the dim lighting before recapturing her lips. 

***

What everyone failed to notice was the man standing in the doorway watching everything unfold. After he saw Sweet Pea and his little girl kiss, he left. He was not pleased with what he saw. How dare someone try and steal her! He refused to let that happen. When he punished her, he fully expected her to come crawling back to him. He was the only family she had. The Lions were the only family she had. 

Marcus growled and pulled his phone out as he reached the parking lot. On the first ring, they answered, “Enough delay! We move onto Phase Two now.”

He hung up the phone and looked at the building smirking, “Oh, my Lioness, just you wait. Soon you and all of Riverdale will be mine!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you, I am not trying to turn this into a song fic but I may end up putting on in every once and a while if it is appropriate. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed and I do not own the song Beautiful People


	7. Chapter 7

For the rest of the night, Sweet Pea did not leave Jezzy’s side. If they were standing, his arm was around her waist or shoulders. When they were sitting, he consistently pulled her into his lap. It didn’t take long for their friends to notice them making out in the corner and come over to crash their party. They had all seen this coming.

Fangs, Jughead, and Toni had never seen Sweet Pea look at anyone like he did her, and that included Josie. He was super protective of her and most of the time when she was around, he couldn’t keep his eye off of her. They were just happy that he had finally made his move and they knew nobody was going to be able to take her away from them. For as long as they had known Sweet Pea, he had always been a protective soul. He was probably the most loyal person they had ever met. Everyone was happy for them. 

Sweet Pea nuzzled against Jezzy’s neck and she turned to look at him with a gentle smile on her face. It was late into the night and everyone was decently drunk. They had all agreed to fill in all the gaps about the drugs in the morning. Everyone had ended up cuddling on the couches. Toni had Cheryl’s head in her lap, Betty’s legs were tucked underneath her as she laid her head on Jughead’s shoulder, Archie had Veronica draped across his lap and was thoroughly kissing her, while Fangs and Kevin simply held each other talking quietly. 

“Come on, Doll. Let’s get out of here,” he suggested, quirking his eyebrow. 

She giggles, drunkenly, and poked him in his hard chest, “You can’t drive. Nobody here should be driving tonight.”

“Uber!” Fangs cheered, pulling out his phone. Jughead and Archie opted to do the same as Sweet Pea placed a kiss on Jezzy’s neck.

“We can walk to my trailer from here. No driving, I promise,” he whispered. A tingle went through her spine at the thought. She shrugged and dislodged herself from his lap. They waved goodbye to their friends, promising they would text them in the morning so they could meet up. Jezzy followed Sweet Pea closely as they slightly sobered up in the Fall air. 

When they got there, he stopped and turned after unlocking the door. He smirked before throwing her over his shoulder. She squealed as he ran them inside and into his bedroom. He tossed her onto his bed. She took a moment to look around his room as she tried to calm her laughter. It looked like a standard boy room with gray walls and some dirty laundry scattering the floor since his hamper was overflowing. The closet was half open and overflowing with shirts, mostly t-shirts, and sleeveless flannels. His duvet was dark blue and he had a few posters lining the walls, primarily rock bands. 

“Does anyone live here with you?” she asked as she looked around. 

He shrugs, “No but Fangs has a fun habit of crashing here at least twice a week. But we won’t have to worry about that tonight.”

She hums as he crawls onto the bed and on top of her. He smirked down at her as she blushed. He descended down and brushed his lips against her. She threaded her hands through his shaggy hair causing him to groan. His hands came down to her hips. He pulled them up to bring him closer as she pulled him down. Nothing felt close enough. One of his hands came up to caress the back of her neck as he deepened the kiss, swiping his tongue across her bottom lip for entrance. She gave a small moan and let him in. Her hands came down the hem of his shirt and she gave it a small tug. He took the hint and pulled it up and over his head, tossing it to the side. She took in his toned body and ran her hands down his defined chest. 

He chuckled and pressed his lips to her temple. She brought her mouth back to his as he began to slowly undo the buttons of her shirt. Eventually, he undid all of them and pulled the shirt from her body, tossing it in the same direction as he did his. She had changed out of the lingerie that she had worn on stage and now wore a green bra. He pulled back to get a good look at her. Her skin was fair with a very toned stomach. His eyes traveled down and he locked his eyes onto a large, jagged scar on her right hip. He brushed his thumb over it and he felt her stiffen beneath him. They were quiet, breathing heavily, what they were doing momentarily forgotten. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, rubbing his thumb against it again. She partially sat up, putting her weight onto her elbows as she looked anywhere but him. Eventually, she nodded and he flipped them over so he could cradle her in his lap. One hand still rubbing against her scar comfortingly. 

She looked into the distance, “He did it to me after I found out about the drugs.”

She took a shaky breath, knowing if she didn’t tell him now, she never would, “I never had a family. My father walked out before I was even born and my mother died when she was delivering me. Her depression over my father leaving caused her not to take care of herself so she was too weak to survive. I’ve been in the foster care system for as long as I can remember. I never had any luck with any of my foster families so I would run away. Eventually, the police stopped looking for runaways and I was left on my own. I didn’t have anyone or anywhere to go. That’s when I met the Lions, they took me in when nobody else would.”

Tears had started to fall from her face and Sweet Pea guided her head to rest on his shoulder as he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her as Jezzy continued her story, “After my initiation, I was to be an entertainer. It supposedly helped to bring in recruits as well as keep up morale for the current members. That’s how I met Marcus. He’s the leader of the Lions and rarely would come out of the backroom of the Lion’s Den. One night, he decided to come out and watch the show, mainly me. That was when we became… involved.”

It was his turn to stiffen and his grip on her tightened. He growled and Jezzy placed a hand on his cheek to bring him to look at her, “Nothing ever happened. I was young and impressionable but not that stupid. He made his Lioness and because of him, nobody would dare touch me. I was still to do my job but he was always in the audience and I was to remain at his side at practically any other time. There was one time that he missed and when I was finished, I went to go find him. I found him in the backroom in the middle of a meeting. That’s where I found out about his plan to create some new drugs. Something more powerful than anything else on the market. His plan was to sell to Centerville High through our younger members and then he was going to align with a gang that had members in the surrounding towns and distribute them there as well. Later that night, I told him that I knew what his plan was and if he didn’t stop his plans then I was going to the police. He told me he wasn’t going to and when I turned to go report him… he, uh, knocked me out.”

She rubbed the back of her head in the memory and buried herself further into Sweet Pea as her memories came to the surface, making her feel like she was reliving it all over again. She let out a sob, “I woke up tied and gagged to a table. He had some of his lackeys with him and they were to make sure I kept still as he beat me. The last thing he did was use his knife and sliced my Lion tattoo straight off of my hip. It was his message that I was banished from the Lions and he dumped me in Fox Forest here in Riverdale.”

After finishing she sobbed into his shoulder. He hushed her by whispering soothing words into her hair while continuing to rub her back. When she had finally quieted down, they sat in silence. He brushed his thumb across it again gently and growled, “I’ll kill him!”

She hummed and gave a small smile before they fell back into silence. He traced up and down her spine as her fingers came to trace his snake tattoo. He noticed that she did it when she was deep in thought, it seemed to have become a thing of comfort to her. He tilted his neck to the side, giving her better access for it, she could do anything if it helped her feel better. She gave a small appreciative smile before laying her head on his shoulder and continued to trace it up and down. He pressed a lingering kiss to her hairline, “Is there anything else I should know?”

She hesitated, “I found a keychain in my bag today… on the back, it said ‘watch where you tread’. I think he may be trying to mess with my head.”

“He won’t touch you,” he hissed holding her tightly against him. She smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. He took a breath, he needed to keep his cool. She was here with him and he was here to protect her, “Anything else?”

“Please don’t ever call me little girl,” she said before taking a small breath and whispering, “And  _ please _ don’t ever be like him.”

He made her look at him and kissed her thoroughly, “I will never do anything like that to you. I promise. I only want the best for you, Doll.”

Instead of responding, she pulled him against her again. He gently laid her on her back and went back to his position above her. He kissed her cheek and continued down until she could feel his breath on her scar tissue. Jezzy breathing became slightly erratic and he looked up, “Shhhh, Doll, you’re beautiful.”

He pressed a kiss to her scar before kissing back up to meet her mouth. After a moment, “I think we should stop for tonight, Doll. You’ve had a long night.”

She looked a little disappointed but nodded in agreement, “Can I borrow a shirt to sleep in?”

Her question stirred something in him that made him regret saying they needed to stop. He smiled and handed her the t-shirt he had been wearing earlier. She stood up and turned her back to him. He watched her closely as she shimmied out of her skirt, revealing a pair of green, lace panties. She proceeded to unclasp her bra which caused him to verbally moan. She looked over her shoulder and smiled and she dropped it onto the ground before tugging his shirt over her head. She turned around and watched his eyes trail down her body. The shirt stopped about her midthigh and she blushed before sitting back down on the bed. He cleared his throat and looked at the ground before finding a pair of plaid pajama pants. He quickly undid his pants, trying to hide his arousal from her gaze and threw them to the side before sliding into the PJs. He crawled into bed and pulled her against him before throwing the duvet over both of their legs. 

He grabbed the TV remote from his nightstand and turned on some random adult cartoon before he completely laid down, pulling Jezzy with him. He nuzzled her hair causing her to hum in satisfaction. Her head was pressed to his chest as she traced the muscles in his arm. He allowed his hand to push up her shirt slightly to splay his big palm across her stomach. He felt her fidget again. He may have not known her long but he already knew that was her starting to think dark thoughts again. Her hand started to drift up to his neck again and he grabbed her wrist gently just as her fingers grazed the bottom snakehead. He looked her in the eyes, “I promise you, Doll, I’m not going to let  _ anyone _ touch again. You’re mine.”

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his jaw. Her fingers still began to trace the tattoo but she snuggled her head into his chest with his arm wrapping around her firmly. She continued to trace the S lazily until her breathing evened out. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in and looked at the sleeping girl. She looked so young and innocent at that moment, nothing like the girl he saw when she was awake or the girl who had been through what she had just told him. He sighed and pressed a kiss to her hair, “Goodnight, Doll.”

He soon fell asleep to the buzzing chatter of the TV and Jezzy’s even breathing. 

***

“Wow! I’ve never had a client sit so still, especially for a tattoo on the back of their neck,” the tattoo artist complimented Jezzy as he wrapped up her snake tattoo. When they woke up, they agreed to all meet at a nearby tattoo parlor so Jezzy could get her serpent tattoo. She smiled and took her hair out of the bun as he told her procedures of aftercare. Obviously, this wasn’t her first tattoo so she already knew everything she needed to do and she had definitely had worse pain then the needle inking her skin. 

She hopped out of the chair and went back into the lobby where Jughead, Fangs, Toni, Cheryl, Betty, and Sweet Pea were waiting. They had tried to get ahold of Archie and Veronica to no avail. No matter, though, this was more of a Serpent thing anyways and while Archie was an honorary member, he never exactly went through the initiation. She turned around and pulled her hair up for all of them to see. They all smiled at her and congratulated her again. 

Sweet Pea was amused at the place where she opted to get it. It was definitely more of a feminine spot than where he had his but he thought it was cute that she opted for her neck like him. He walked over to Jezzy and kissed her on the neck at the edge of the cling wrap that guarded the fresh ink. He then pulled his mouth to her ear, “I like the placement.”

She gave a small chuckle before turning to the others. They opted to go to Pop’s for an early lunch. While they waited for their food, they began to talk about their recent investigation. 

“So, what did you see at the Whyte Wyrm, Jezzy?” Jughead asked, getting straight down to business. 

She took a drink of her water and looked around for peeping ears, “So, it was kind of dingy. A lot of people were drinking and doing drugs, most of them men. I think they were primarily gang members because they all were wearing leather jackets with skulls and Ghoulies written on the back.”

Fangs put his head in his hands as he sighed dramatically, “ _ Why _ is it always the damn Ghoulies!”

They all groaned. 

“So that means Penny may be involved,” Jughead sighed, putting his head on the table. Betty rubbed his back in comfort. 

“What’s our next play, Jones,” Sweet Pea asked.

“Our next play is to figure out if Penny Peabody is involved. If she is, then we're in for a definite fight. If not, then the Ghoulies may be leaderless which may make it easier for us to take them down.”

They all nodded in agreement as their food came. 

***

Across town, at the Whyte Wyrm, Marcus sat across Penny Peabody modeling her Ghoulies jacket again. They each had four members of their respective gangs with them. Marcus leaned back in his chair, looking bored, “It’s simple Ms. Peabody. We need to accelerate production and get our product to a wider variety of people.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Penny snarled back. She still wore the eyepatch over where Gladys Jones had mutilated her eye and she now sported a cane to help her walk since her last run-in with Gladys resulted in a sai in her leg. 

He shrugged, “Sell it at a lower price, have people producing them 24 hours a day, I don’t particularly care! If you don’t know how to properly run a drug ring then I trusted our business with the wrong person and that makes me very unhappy. I don’t like being unhappy, Ms. Peabody, it causes me to do things I later regret… like, make people disappear  _ permanently _ . You already have a habit of disappearing Ms. Peabody and you always come back looking worse for wear. Now, I don’t think you want to make your next disappearance permanent, now do you?”

She swallowed. Never before had she ever dealt with someone who gave off such a powerful aura, “No sir, I understand.”

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other,” he smiled, folding his hands together, “Now, it would be useful for us to get an inside man of some sort. Either in this town's administration or in the police force.”

She nodded and thought for a moment, “I may have a few favors I can call in to make that happen.”

He smiled, “Good. Oh, one final thing, the Serpents.”

Penny growled and he nodded, “So you have my same sentiment. Now, we may be needing to eliminate them. You see, they stole something from me that I would like to get back. My little girl, Jezebella. I want her back and I plan on punishing the people who  _ persuaded _ her to join their ranks along with a few other things.”

“I want Jughead! I want him personally, but other than that, we would be  _ happy _ to help you dispose of them,” she said with a sadistic grin.

He leaned forward and stuck his hand out for her to shake, “I’m glad we are in agreement. It is a pleasure to be in business with you.”

She took his hand, “The pleasure is all mine.”


	8. Chapter 8

Slowly, over the next few weeks, Lollies began to pop up all over town. FP was stressed with the number of arrests that he was having to make on the daily. He came home frustrated that night and laid back on the couch with a groan. Betty and Jughead heard him come home and descended down the stairs. FP sat up, “Any luck with figuring this out, boy?”

“Jezzy pretended to be a buyer and went to the Whyte Wyrm,” Jughead started.

“She what?” He snapped, “That’s not our territory anymore which makes that even more dangerous! You didn’t even tell me! What if there was a raid? She could have been arrested and nobody knows enough about her. She could have ended up in prison for that shit!”

“Jezzy volunteered, Mr. Jones,” Betty explained, “She thought it was a good idea because nobody  _ does  _ really know her so she wouldn’t be recognized. We should have told you our plan but it was an in the moment decision.”

The sheriff sighed, “So what was she able to find out?”

“The Ghoulies are back and they are involved. She was also able to get some guy’s business card, Asher. I have it upstairs. The next question is if Penny is back or not,” Jughead replied with his arms crossed. FP nodded as he processed the information.

“I’ll try and see if this kid’s got a record. Other than that, nice work, boy. I need to be informed of what the plan is from here on out. At least a text for God’s sake and please be careful. Jezzy’s my responsibility too and I can only protect you guys if I know what’s going on,” he stressed, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. They nodded in understanding and went back upstairs. 

***

“Teach me more,” Sweet Pea said as he stroked Jezzy’s arm. She giggled. It accidentally happened while she was working on homework. She got frustrated and began to curse in Latin about the damn math she was being forced to do. Back in Centerville, after she joined the Lions, she had begun to learn Latin. It was something Marcus loved to speak the delicate language and, eventually, everyone in the gang picked it up. 

“Hmm, let’s see, oh!  _ Nullum reliquit post tergum.  _ No serpent left behind,” she said and he looked at her with awe. He knew better than to ask where she learned it but loved the way the words fell off her tongue. 

“You’re incredible, Doll,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her cheek, “Now, as much as I love to hear you talk, I think I want to make other use of those pretty lips.”

She raised her eyebrow at him, “Oh? And what would that be, oh!”

His lips covered hers. She hummed and threaded her hands through his head. He groaned and pulled her as close as he could. He pulled himself away from his lips and began to trail kisses down her neck. He reached the junction where her neck meets her shoulder and nibbled. She moaned and tugged on his hair. His fingers began to drift underneath the hem of her shirt. She gasped and ran her hands down his chest. As he was about to rid her of her shirt, there was a knock at the door. 

This time, he groaned in aggravation, “God Fangs has shit timing!”

She laughed and removed herself from his lap. She walked over to the door as the knocking stopped. She unlocked the door and turned the knob so that he would be able to let himself in. She began to walk back towards Sweet Pea but stopped when Fangs didn’t come barging in. She went back to the door and opened it completely. Nobody was there. Jezzy looked around and saw nobody around. When she looked down, she screamed.

Sweet Pea came rushing over to her to see what happened. When he got to her, he stopped dead and his mouth fell open. On the ground, there was a dead snake. It had been sliced open head to tail on its belly side, with its innards slightly coming out onto the ground. Around it, there were words written in what looked like the snake’s blood.  _ Ut veniam ad vos puella. _

He looked over, Jezzy was completely white in the face. He put an arm around her causing her to jump. Once she registered who it was, she leaped into his arms, burying her head in his chest. He rubbed her back, staring at the scene. After a moment, he knew he had to ask, “Do you know what it says, Doll?”

She nods and looks back at it with a shaky breath, “I’m coming from you... little girl”

She began to sob into Sweet Pea’s chest as he growled. He pulled her away from the scene and slammed the door. He picks her up and gently settles into the couch with her on his lap. She continued to cry into his chest and he tried to settle her down while he was trying to do the same for himself. 

“It was Marcus,” she whispered causing him to tighten his grip on her. 

“I know, Doll,” he said through his teeth, “He’s not going to ever get you. I won’t let him.” She sniffed and looked into the distance. He continued to rub her back and he sighed, “We need to talk to the others about this including FP.”

She looked up at him but didn’t meet his eyes. Her hand came up to his neck and she began to play with the fringe on the back of his neck, “I know…”

Jezzy looked up at him with pleading eyes, “But… not yet… please… Right now, I just want to forget everything.”

Sweet Pea looked apprehensive, “I don’t know, Doll. This is serious, you’re receiving threats.”

“Please, Sweet Pea! My entire life, I’ve lived in fear of Marcus. I’m tired of it, I just want to pretend like he doesn’t exist,” she pleaded. 

“It won’t make him go away for real. He’s still gonna be there when you're pretending and he’s threatening you,” he reasoned. She had begun to trace his tattoo again and he groaned. Something about when she did that would always make him cave. He knew she wasn’t doing it to manipulate him but, God, he would do anything for her when she started doing that. It made him tingle and he knew that when she started that, she really just wanted him with her in any way she could need him at that moment. 

He moved her to straddle his lap and he pressed a short kiss to her lips, “Fine, but we go and tell them in a little bit.”

She ran her finger across the tattoo one more time before pressing a kiss to it and smiling softly, “Thank you.”

He hummed and captured her lips again, holding her hips firmly. Her hands moved from his neck to his hair. She gave a small tug and he groaned against her lips before standing up. She squeaked and wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked her through the hall and gently set her down on his bed. He felt like he needed to be careful with her, like she may break at any second. He crawled on top of her as he swiped his tongue across her bottom lip. She immediately granted him access and their tongues briefly fought for dominance but he eventually won over her. 

Jezzy’s hands found the hem of his shirt and she tugged lightly, asking the silent question. He pulled back to remove it before doing the same to her. He began to kiss down her neck causing her to moan. She began to scratch up his back which caused Sweet Pea to grab her hands and place them above her head, intertwining their fingers. She moaned again and he muffled it by covering her mouth with his. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, causing them both to groan at the friction. He let go of her hands and they came down to move up and down his chest as he unclasped her bra. 

Jezzy gasps as the cold air hit her breasts and Sweet Pea groans at the sight of her. He tentatively reaches up to palm her breasts before starting to message them. She kisses his jaw and he growled before descending down to her chest. She moans as his mouth engulfs her one nipple and then the other. Her hands move down to undo his belt which he is happy to help her do. He strips down to his boxers. He begins to kiss down her stomach, making sure to press a light kiss to the scar on her hip causing her to gasp. She shimmies out of her jeans and looks at him. 

Jezzy looks up at him with hooded eyes and takes hold of his member. He moans loudly before capturing her mouth again. His hands trailed down her sides causing her to shiver. She pushed on his chest and made him look her in the eyes, “Please…”

He moans and recaptures her lips as he slid her panties down her long legs. After that, he gently touched her most secret area causing her to gasp. He gave her a smirk as he began to trace the outer lips. He brushes against her clit and causes her to moan loudly. It was all the encouragement he needed to push a finger into her. She arched against him and moaned his name in encouragement. He enters another and flexes making her quiver.

“Damn, Doll. You’re so tight,” he growls, sucking a hickey into the junction of her shoulder and neck, “Are you sure you want me to keep going? I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop after this point, Doll.”

“Yes,” she hissed, pulling him into a heated kiss. She started to shove his boxers down when he stopped her by pulling her hands above her head again. He repositioned himself in between her legs and aligned himself. He presses a kiss to her cheek, “Are you ready?”

She nods and he presses another kiss to her cheek. He starts to push in and she hisses. It causes him to stop, worried that he hurt her. She shakes her head, “I’m fine, just please be gentle at first.”

He nods and then it dawns on him, “Doll, are you a…”

She looks down and blushes. He gently let go of her hands and was about to pull away when she stopped him by wrapping her arms around his neck. He looked at her in confusion, “I want this. I trust you and I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.”

His heart swelled and he nodded. He readjusted her arms to be more secure around his neck and kissed her deeply. He looked down at her and brought his mouth down to her ear, “Hang on, Doll. I’m about to make sure  _ everyone _ knows you’re mine.”

He slowly began to push in again until he was fully embedded into her heat. He groaned and listened to her pants and felt her squirm. She started to dig her nails into his back. They sat there for a moment while she got used to the burning inside of her. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant either. It only took about a minute before she felt adjusted enough to let him move. Jezzy nodded at him and he started to move slowly and shallowly. She groaned at his movement causing him to halt again. She dug her nails into his back as she gasped, “No, don’t stop!”

He growled at her words and started to push in a little deeper. She moaned loudly and he kissed her hard. He began to lose some of his control and started to go faster. He brought his hand down to start to rub her clit causing her to cry out. He put his other hand underneath her back, pulling her close. He didn’t stop either of his menstruations, “It’s ok, Doll. I’ve got you.”

She began to whimper and wrapped her legs tightly, clinging to him as he started to drive her over the edge. Heat started to coil in her lower belly as he began to suck on her neck again, continuing to rub circles in her clit and pound into her. He released her neck with a wet  _ pop  _ and whispered to her in a sexy, husky voice, “Cum for me, Doll.”

With that, she screamed his name as she was brought toppling over the edge. She caught her breath only for a moment before kissing his jaw as he started to go faster. It didn’t take too terribly much longer until he was coming over the edge too. As he did so, he growled, “ _ Mine!” _

He fell on top of her before rolling over to her side. Sweet Pea pulled her into his arms, burying his nose into her hair. They laid there in silence for a few minutes, she started tracing his tattoo. He looked at her with concern, “Are you okay, Doll?”

She smiled and nodded. He started running his fingers through her hair before kissing her temple. He paused and sighed, “We need to tell them now…”

She let out a sigh, “I know. Can we have them come here?”

He nodded and turned over to grab his phone. He texted Fangs, FP, Jughead, and Toni. They would get the word out to anyone else that needed to be involved. They began to pull their clothes back on and as they finished up, they heard a knock on the door. 

Sweet Pea got off the couch from his place next to Jezzy. He opened the door and let Fangs, Betty, Jughead, Toni, and FP in. He already knew that they saw what was outside his trailer. However, the sheriff looked absolutely furious, “You wanna tell me what the hell is outside?”

Jezzy didn’t look up from her hands, “It’s from Marcus and it’s a threat to me.”

FP looked furious. Jughead looked skeptical.

“Why would be in town and why would he want to threaten you when he was the one who banished you?” He asked.

Then, something dawned on Betty, “Lollies popped up a little after Jezzy came to Riverdale. What if Marcus is working with the Ghoulies in running the drug market.”

“Well, if what Jezzy has told us, he has been looking into creating a new drug. It may be possible that he brought them here and got into the business with the Ghoulies to try and spread the drug to more towns. Did you know anything about this plan, Jezzy?” FP asked. 

Jezzy’s eyes began to water and Sweet Pea wrapped his arm around her. She began to shake her head furiously, “No. He left me for dead. I don’t understand why he would want me back and I don’t know why he would come to Riverdale when he already controls the market in Centerville.”

Toni chimed in, “What if he didn’t come to the Ghoulies, what if the Ghoulies came to him?”

“That doesn’t make sense. They haven’t had a leader since Penny Peabody and were basically gone!” Fangs protested.

“Unless our suspicions are correct and the Snake Charmer is involved,” Sweet Pea agreed with Toni’s theory.

“She’s been going from town to town since we banished her from the Serpents. She could have ended up in Centerville after her fight with my mom. Is it possible she was able to hear about Marcus while there?” Jughead asked, turning to Jezzy.

She nodded, “Everyone knows about what the Lions do and who Marcus is. He pays off the police department to leave his operation alone,” Jezzy explained. 

“I think we have a lead to look into Jug,” Betty said, going into detective mode. The others nodded. 

“I can try and find out what I can about where Penny has been hiding at the police station. I need you guys to continue to do recon and be my eyes. However, I want someone with Jezzy at all times until this is figured out. After what he did to her, we’re not letting him get her back, clear?” FP said. Everyone nodded. He seemed satisfied with their nods, “Good, now let’s get started.”


	9. Chapter 9

About a month passed with many incidents. Jughead had gotten some of the Serpents to stake out the Whyte Wyrm to find out Penny’s involvement with Lollies. However, everyone else was on edge and keeping their eyes out for anyone who was looking at Jezzy the wrong way. Ever since she told them about Marcus and what he had been doing to her, they barely let her out of their sight. 

It was a busy night at La Bonne Nuit, Jezzy was running around serving tables all night while Veronica was on the stage singing. Archie was on stage with her, playing the guitar with a huge grin on his face. Jughead and Betty were sitting in a booth with Kevin and Fangs. Jezzy walked over and set down drinks for all of them, which they accepted gratefully. Sweet Pea came down and walked over to the table, he gave Jezzy a peck and then sat down next to Fangs. He looked up and gave her a smirk, “Can I get a beer, Doll?”

She rolled her eyes and walked towards the bar. Reggie looked up, “I need a beer for Sweet Pea.”

He pulled one out of the fridge and took the bottle cap off before handing it to her. Before she walked away he stopped her, “Table 4 ordered a scotch on the rocks and a martini so swing this by there too.”

He handed her the other drinks and she took it with a nod. She dropped off Sweet Pea’s beer and then headed over to table 4 where a gentleman was sitting alone with a hat covering most of his features. She placed the scotch down first with a smile, “Here you are, and is the martini for your date?”

“Actually,” the man’s voice says, “It’s for you.”

Jezzy paled and dropped the martini, causing the glass to shatter. The man looked up with a sickly grin. His skin was pale and his eyes were dark but sunken into his skull. His teeth were crooked and there was a decent-sized gap in between his two front teeth. His platinum hair was slicked back underneath his hat which he proceeded to remove and set on the table.

The entire place was silent and watching the scene unfold. Jezzy swallowed and tried to keep herself upright. She let out a breath and tried to steady her voice, “Marcus.”

She heard chairs scoot and footsteps before feeling several presences behind her. Marcus regarded them quietly before turning back to her. His voice reminded her of the voltary on  _ Twilight _ when he spoke to her, “Ah, Jezebella, how have you been? Do you miss being my  _ good little girl?” _

He put an emphasis on the last three words that caused her and the people behind her to stiffen. She felt someone take a step forward but she stopped him, knowing it was Sweet Pea. This was her fight… at least for now. She crossed her arms over her chest, partially in defiance of him and partially because she was uncomfortable, “No, I don’t and I don’t understand why you are here.”

“You know exactly why I am here!” he hissed as his eyes darkened.

“You banished me,” she said harshly, “You put me in the _ hospital  _ hundreds of miles away from anything and anyone I knew.”

“I needed to teach you a lesson,” he remarked simply causing Sweet Pea to growl.

“No! That wasn’t a lesson, Marcus! I have watched you punish people in the past and that wasn’t this. You  _ mutilated _ me! I have nightmares about what you did to me and I wake up screaming for my life!” she said, her anger starting to take over, “If you  _ ever _ cared about me, you would have never done any of that.”

Marcus stood up and towered over her, “You better watch your tone, little girl. I know you don’t want me angry.”

He pushed a lock of hair out of her face, causing Archie to grab his arm and push it away from her. She refused to back down and took a step forward, “ _ I don’t care if you get angry.  _ Stay the hell away from me.”

He was about to say something but Sweet Pea interrupted, “She said to go the hell away!”

Marcus’ eyes locked with Sweet Pea, neither refusing to look away. Reggie walked up between everyone and turned to face Marcus. He crossed his arms over his chest, “It’s time to go bro.”

Marcus was seething. He looked back down at Jezzy and hissed, “This isn’t over little girl. You know where and who you belong to!”

With that, he stormed out. Everyone let out a breath. Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around Jezzy. All the anger left her body and she slumped against him. She began to shake and everyone looked at her in concern. 

She felt too vulnerable. She looked at Veronica, “Ronnie, is it ok if I’m done for the night?”

Veronica nodded and reached out a hand to rub her arm, “Of course! I’m so sorry that happened and I promise it won’t again!”

Jezzy nodded and thanked her. Betty cleared her throat, “Jug, why don’t we go and give your dad his description so that he can be on the look-out.”

Jug nodded and wrapped his arm around Betty’s shoulders. They bid everyone goodbye and made their way to the sheriff’s station. Jezzy was still in Sweet Pea’s arms and was just staring into the distance. He rubbed her arms gently but it all just felt so numb. 

“Let’s get out of here,” he mumbled to her before gently directing her to the exit. She gave a half-hearted goodbye to everyone before following him out. As they left, Veronica sunk down into Archie’s lap. 

“I feel terrible, this was supposed to be a safe place for her,” she moaned. Archie wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. Reggie pulled up a chair and sat with his front facing the back of the chair. Fangs and Kevin pulled chairs around the table as well.

“How did we let him get so close to her,” Fangs remarked angrily. They all shrugged. 

“Now we know what he looks like. It won’t happen again,” Archie confidently. Reggie, Fangs, and Kevin nodded. 

***

Sweet Pea took Jezzy back to his trailer and picked her up off his bike, despite her protests, “I can walk Pea!” 

He ignored her and continued into the living room with her in his arms. After closing the door, he sank down into the couch with her still on his lap. They sat quietly for a long while, both just fiddling with each other's hair. She sighed, “Why won’t he leave me alone?”

“I don’t know, Doll,” Sweet Pea replied and pressed a kiss to her hairline, “But you don’t deserve it.”

She hummed before growling in frustration, “I don’t understand why he won’t just let me be happy!”

She threw her head onto his shoulder and sighed. He rubbed her back in comfort before responding, “He’s being selfish. He doesn’t want you but he also doesn’t want you to be happy. He seems to be of the mentality that if he can’t have you, then nobody can.”

She groaned, “I don’t feel well.”

She laid her head on his shoulder and felt a little nauseous. Sweet Pea brushed some hair away from her forehead and noticed she seemed clammy. He looked down at her with concern. She looked pale. He put his head on top of hers and sighed, “I think you need some rest. You may not be feeling well with everything that went down today.”

She nodded and stood up, only to stumble. Sweet Pea stood up abruptly to stead her. She gave him a shaky smile. Much to her dismay, he picked her up bridal style again and looked at her with concern, “Okay, Doll, let’s hope that all you need is a night of rest.”

She didn’t look him in the eye. He carried her to his bedroom and sat her down on the bed. She never looked so uncomfortable in his bedroom and it pained his heart. She picked at a thread on his duvet, “I don’t have anything here to sleep in.”

Sweet Pea smirked and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out a flannel and handed it to her. She gave a grateful smile and went to the bathroom to change. While she did that, he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed. She stepped out and his eyes went wide. She stood before him in his dark blue flannel and just her panties. The flannel was more of a dress than a shirt on her. She had it button up but the top two were undone, showing just a bit of cleavage. His mouth fell open and his eyes were wide. She looked down under his fiery gaze. He stood up, “You look stunning.”

She gave a small smile as he walked up to Jezzy and took her face in his hands. He bent down and gave her a soft kiss. He gently coaxed her into responding. After a moment, he pulled back and pulled her to the bed. They both laid under the duvet with her head on his chest. He was slowly tracing up and down her spine, both silent. 

Jezzy eventually spoke up, “Do you hate me?”

He looked down at her in surprise. That was the last time that he thought that she would ever ask. He gently brought her chin up so that Jezzy would look at him, “I could never hate you.”

“Why not?” she persisted with tears starting to blind her vision, “I’ve been nothing but trouble for you since I got here.”

He sat upbringing her with him, “You haven’t been trouble at all, Doll. None of this is your fault and I’m gonna make sure that he never touches you again.”

His hand drifted down to her scar. She shuttered a breath as the tears began to flow freely now. He held her close as she cried into his chest. Her tears made his bare chest wet but he didn’t care. He let out a shuttered breath and spoke, “Jezzy?”

She looked up at him and sniffled. She knew she probably looked an absolute mess. He brought a hand up to wipe away a tear from her cheek and looked at her with all seriousness, “I think I may be falling for you.”

Her eyes widened before she started crying again. He got worried before she heard her whisper, “I think I am too.”

She cried for a little while longer before she finally quieted down. She studied him for a moment as he slid them down into a laying down position. They fell back into silence but he could feel the anxiety buzzing through her body. He gave a small smile and grabbed her hand, bringing it up to his neck. She gave him a peculiar look and he gave a small chuckle, “you’re anxious. When you’re like this, you seem to like to trace my tattoo.”

She blushes but begins to trace up and down the dual-headed snake. Sweet Pea couldn’t lie. He honestly loved it when she did this and it made him feel slightly tingly. He inwardly groaned as she did it. Jezzy’s gaze was fixed on his chest as she spoke, “I’m scared.”

“Of what?” he asked. 

“Of Marcus. Of the Lions. Even of this,” she elaborated but the last one made Sweet Pea cocked his head.

She noticed the shift in his head and continued, “Not in the way you think, Sweet Pea. I’m scared because of what that could mean for you. Marcus is dangerous and I don’t want you hurt.”

He nodded in understanding. There was one other part that made this scary for Jezzy that she wasn’t telling him. She was terrified because she  _ was _ falling for him and that he was falling for her. It made all of this more real and, for her, that was scary for her. She had a messed up life and she didn’t want to bring him into her mess. The only person that she had ever  _ thought _ she loved was Marcus. Now, she knows that what they had was not love. It was a tactic of survival for her and she was a pawn for him. With Sweet Pea, all of that was different.

So, now, she wasn’t sure if she knew how to love or what even love was. She hated the unknown and she hated not having control over her feelings. That was an issue for another day, right now, all she wanted was to forget everything that happened that day. 

The conversation died down after that. Sweet Pea had his eyes shut, just feeling as she traced his snake tattoo while he ran his hand up and down her spine again. Eventually, he felt her hand slowed to a stop and her breathing evened out. He gave a small smile and drifted off to sleep as well. 


	10. Chapter 10

Jezzy woke up the next morning feeling nauseous again. She woke up abruptly and ran to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she lost everything she had eaten the night before. Eventually, everything was out of her stomach and all she was retching up was stomach acid, which left a bitter taste in her mouth. 

She felt someone rub her back and whisper, “Just let it all out. You’ll feel better.”

When she was done, she laid her head on the edge of the toilet, trying to catch her breath. Sweet Pea continued to rub her back in a comforting, circular motion. He eventually pulled her into his chest. She closed her eyes and groaned, rubbing her hands over her face. Even though she had nothing left, she still felt nauseous. 

Jezzy couldn’t think of a reason she would be sick. She felt fine yesterday night. She thought it may have been running into Marcus but now she wasn’t so sure. She thought hard about what could have made her sick and then she had a possible thought. She turned to Sweet Pea quickly, “What day is today?”

Sweet Pea looked confused, “The 29th. Why?”

He watched her physically pale. She began to hyperventilate which caused him to get worried. He pulled her closed and tried to talk her through breathing. When she was able to catch her breath again, she sprung up from their place on the bathroom floor, “We need to run to the store, the gas station, somewhere, anywhere!”

He really couldn’t understand why she was panicking over the date. Was it someone’s birthday that they forgot? Maybe the anniversary of someone she had known passing? He stood up and looked at her in her confusion, “Doll, what’s going on?”

She took a breath and looked at him, “I’m late.”

He still didn’t understand, “Late for what? Do you have something to do today?”

She rolled her eyes, “Sweet Pea, I’m  _ late _ .”

He furrowed his eyebrows until it finally dawned on him. His eyes widened as he finally got to the level she was on. He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath, trying to keep his breathing level. He looked at her, trying to be the calm one here because she was still freaking out, “Okay, we’ll go to the store and get a… test. It’ll be okay.”

She nodded, trying to believe him. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Her fears got the best of her, “What if it’s not?”

He pulled her away so that he could look at her, “We’ll figure it out if we need to, but let’s cross that bridge if we get to it.”

She nods furiously and he leads her back to his bedroom. They got changed quickly and basically ran out of the house and onto his bike. She clutched him tighter than she ever had before. Her fear squeezing him as tight as it could. At the speed Sweet Pea was driving, it didn’t take long before they were pulling up to a local convenience store. She jumped off the bike and walked into the beaten up store like a fire was lit under her ass and Sweet Pea was hot on her heels. 

The store was pretty much abandoned beside a few people working the pharmacy and cashier in the front. They searched through the different aisles until they found what they were looking for in one aisle over from the pharmacy. Jezzy took a shaky breath as she stood before the row of dozens of different pregnancy tests. She pulled one off the shelf and read the box. It promised clear results in two minutes with 99.9% accuracy. Without looking at Sweet Pea, she turned towards the register with a stiff back. 

When she placed the box on the counter, the guy gave her a weird look but quickly averted his eyes when Sweet Pea cleared his throat. Jezzy kept her eyes trailed on her shoes as the guy rang the test up, “$22.37.”

Sweet Pea slapped thirty dollars on the counter and snatched up the test. He grunted as he led Jezzy to the door, “Keep the change.”  
When they got back to Sweet Pea’s trailer, Jezzy made a beeline to the bathroom to do what she needed to do. Sweet Pea trailed her but she closed the door so she could pee without being under his gaze. Once she was finished, she set a timer on her phone for two minutes and opened the door so Sweet Pea could come in. He stepped in as she turned to wash her hands. When she was finished, she turned around and sat on top of the bathroom counter. 

Sweet Pea stepped in between her legs and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the top of her forehead, “Whatever it says, we’re gonna get through this. You’re not going to do this alone if it does end up being that way.”

She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. She focused on her breathing. In for ten seconds and out for ten seconds. This continued until the timer went off on her phone. Her heart lurched into her throat as she took her head off of Sweet Pea’s shoulder. Shakily, she took hold of the stick and slowly turned it over in her hand. 

She closed her eyes and took a breath before looking down at the test. She burst into tears, her head falling back onto Sweet Pea’s shoulder as she sobbed. He wrapped one arm around her, trying to comfort her as he took the test out of her hands. 

She continued to cry as he brought the hand with the test in it above her shoulders. He let his breath out too but still remained strong because he needed to be for her. 

It was positive. 

***

Betty and Jughead sat in the Blue and Gold’s office, in front of their new crime board. They had everything they had on the Lollies case. They had the Ghoulie kid’s card, a picture of the drugs, a picture of Marcus, a Lion emblem as well as a Ghoulie’s emblem, and even a picture of Jezzy on there. There were articles of the different drug deaths and articles on how the drug ring and sugarman are back in town. Jughead walked up to the corkboard and added a new picture to it, Penny Peabody. 

Some of the younger Serpents had confirmed that they had seen Peabody going in and out of the Whyte Wyrm. So, it can only be assumed that Penny is back and part of this new drug ring. The number of people who were trying this drug was starting to get overwhelming. Everyone feared yet were curious about these new drugs. People seemed to want to better understand what this drug was doing to people and it was starting to suffocate this town.

“So, all of our suspicions have been confirmed,” Jughead said as he crossed his arms and took a step away from the board. Betty nodded in agreement. Jughead continued on, “The question, now, is how do we stop all of this. How do we stop Marcus, the Lions, and the Ghoulies from continuing to traffick these Lollies.”

Betty came up and wrapped her arms around Jughead’s waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. Betty thought for a moment before speaking, “Let’s focus on one beast at a time.”

Jughead turned to her to look at her in interest, “Care to elaborate?”

She smiled, “Let’s focus on one part of this operation at a time. We know more about Penny and the Ghoulies  _ and _ they have better connections to everyone here at Riverdale. So, what if we focus on stopping Penny first.”

“If we take Penny out, then that leaves the Ghoulies leaderless again and they’ll fall apart again,” Jughead continued for her, “Which would cause the Lions and Marcus to not have any reason or connection to Riverdale, allowing us to run them out of town.”

Betty gave a smile and Jughead turned to her. He pressed a kiss to her mouth but pulled away before they would get too heavy in the middle of the high school. Jughead called a Serpent meeting at the Serpent’s Den to start formulating a plan and texted his dad to tell him to get over there too. 

***

Sweet Pea and Jezzy hadn’t talked really at all after finding out the results of the pregnancy test. Sweet Pea sat on the edge of his bed, leaning on his elbows with a deep look of contemplation. Jezzy laid beside him, staring at her stomach with a new fascination.  _ There is a child growing inside of me, _ she thought to herself. One of her hands drifted down to her stomach as if to caress a bump that wasn’t even there yet. 

Sweet Pea must have noticed her movement because he looked over at her before covering her hand with his. They both gazed at her stomach before making eye contact. Sweet Pea gave her a reassuring smile before moving closer to her, intertwining their fingers. Her eyes started to cloud with tears again but he shushed her, “Hey, I meant what I said when I said you’re not going through this alone. We will figure this out, Doll. Right now, we just need to take this one day at a time.”

She nodded, praying that he meant every word that he said. Their phones both buzzed at the same time and they each quirked an eyebrow. They each grabbed their phones to realize it was a group chat and the message was from Jughead. 

**Jughead:** **Meet at the Serpent’s Den ASAP! We may have a plan.**

They looked up at each other before moving to go to the Den. Before Sweet Pea starts up the bike, Jezzy stops him. He looked down at her while she looked at the ground. He waited for her to speak, “We need to tell them.”

He sighed and pressed his lips to her temple, “I know.”

When she nodded, he started up the bike and they made their way to the Serpent’s Den. They were the last to arrive and they found Fangs, Betty, Jughead, Toni, and FP sitting there. They took a seat on the couch and Sweet Pea wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Jughead spoke up, “Okay, so here’s what Betty and I were thinking about today when we were at the Blue and Gold. Obviously, everything is connected. The drugs, the Ghoulies, the Lions, Marcus, and now Penny Peabody.”

Everyone stiffened for one way or another but Jughead continued, “We can’t take all of this on alone. So, here’s our strategy. We take this whole operation apart piece by piece, starting with Peabody. If we take her down, the Ghoulies are leaderless again and will disappear into the night. So, our next step is to figure out how to lure the Snake Charmer out of hiding. My bet is that she still has it out for me, so maybe we could use that to our advantage.”

“No!” FP interjects, “That’s too dangerous, boy!”

“Not if we do this right dad,” Jughead protests, “Every time she comes back, she is just more blinded by rage. We can use that and this time has the upper hand to actually get her out of this town for good.”

FP still looked pissed but kept his mouth shut. Toni leaned forward, “So what’s the plan, Jones?”

“First, a classic. We make an appearance back at the Wyrm, forcing Penny and her merry band outside. We  _ don’t _ confront them or start a fight. We just elluminate to the fact that we are onto them. If I do the talking, it’ll rile her up,” Jughead explains. 

“And if they want the fight?” Fangs interject. 

“We fight back. However, that  _ only _ happens if they engage us first. Also, we’re gonna have backup hiding in the shadows,” Jughead explains. 

“What do you mean by that?” Sweet Pea asks.

“This problem is bigger than just the Serpents. Archie wants to help and offered the help of the Bulldogs. So, they will be lying low but there just in case things get out of hand,” Betty interjects. The Serpents all stiffened but accepted this without any fight. 

Jughead picks up after Betty finishes, “If we can get under Penny’s skin, she’ll get bold and start coming after us again, more specifically me. She’s gonna be desperate to finally get what she wants after failing so many times, so she’s gonna make mistakes which will be our opportunity to get rid of her permanently. Without a leader, the Ghoulies will fall again. Without the Ghoulies and Penny, we can figure out a plan to get rid of the Lions and Marcus too.”

Everyone nodded in understanding. Once he got their approval, including his fathers, he finished, “We will need every Serpent to be there. Nobody is left behind.”

“Jezzy doesn’t go,” Sweet Pea interrupts. Everyone looks at him in confusion.

Betty walked over and sat on the table in front of Sweet Pea and Jezzy, trying to be comforting, “Sweet Pea, she’d be safe. We’d have all the Serpents with us so she would have plenty of protection from Marcus and his gang.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about anymore,” Sweet Pea grits out, “I know he wouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of her.”

Toni leaned forward, placing her elbows at her knees, “Then what’s the problem, Sweet Pea?”

“I can go,” Jezzy interrupted. She turned to Sweet Pea, “It’ll be fine.”

Sweet Pea’s jaw locked and he brought his mouth down to her ear and whispered, “If a fight breaks out, you could get hurt… both of you, now. I’m not risking Marcus  _ and  _ a gang war with you.”

“What is going on, guys?” Fangs interrupts before Jezzy could react. All eyes were on them and it made Jezzy uncomfortable. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and looked down at the ground. Sweet Pea refused to meet their eyes too, too frustrated to respond. 

Eventually, Jezzy worked up the courage to look at the group of Serpents. She let out the breath she had been holding and gave a tight smile, “I’m pregnant.”

There was a deafening silence in the room before it erupts.

“What?”

“When did this happen?”

“How?”

“Dammit Sweet Pea! You couldn’t at least have pulled out!”

“Guys relax!” Sweet Pea finally interjects, “We found out right before we came here. And shut up Fangs, I wasn’t exactly thinking!” Things got quiet again for a moment before Betty asked a question that had been plaguing even Sweet Pea and Jezzy.

“What are you guys gonna do?”

“We haven’t exactly figured everything out but…” Sweet Pea begins before Jezzy interrupts him.

“I wanna keep him or her. I’m not letting them go through the foster care system like I had to,” Jezzy said, looking at Sweet Pea. He gave a tight smile and nodded, rubbing up and down her arm. The moment was interrupted by FP walking up to them, his jaw sternly set. 

When he was in front of them, he first squatted down in front of Jezzy. He made her look him in the eyes as he softly asked, “Are you okay?”

She gave him a smile, touched by his paternal attitude. She nodded, “I’m a survivor, FP. I can do this, trust me.”

He continues to look at her for another moment, looking for any doubt in her eyes but nods when he finds none. He raises up to his full height and looks at Sweet Pea. This causes Sweet Pea to stand as well. FP’s eyes hardened as he looked at Sweet Pea. He points at the young Serpent, “You gonna take care of her?”

Sweet Pea nods, “Yes sir. She won’t be doing this alone.”

FP nods, “If you hurt her, I will hunt you down and make you regret it.”

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but stiffen at the sheriff’s words. He knew that he wasn’t kidding. After another tense moment, FP gives another nod, and a small smile forms on his lips, “Well I guess congratulations are in order.”

This seemed to be the queue for everyone to begin celebrating. At that moment, everyone was embracing both Sweet Pea and Jezzy and congratulating them, all of them excited for the couple. This caused them to smile too. Betty and Toni crowded around Jezzy, touching her stomach as touching a baby bump that was not even there yet. 

The guys were around Sweet Pea, clapping him on the back. It was a private moment between these few people. This specific family. However, rumors fly quickly.

And it wasn’t long until Marcus had heard about the new bundle of joy that was being expected. 


End file.
